


Things Left Unsaid

by nerdyandturdy (darweanie)



Category: Arrow (TV 2012)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Angst, F/M, Oliver is oblivious, Season 1/Season 2 AU, Soulmate-Identifying Marks, Soulmates, and felicity is stubborn, until he isnt, until she isnt, what are these tags lol
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-05-05
Updated: 2017-10-19
Packaged: 2018-10-28 13:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 27,829
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10831788
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/darweanie/pseuds/nerdyandturdy
Summary: Felicity never believed in soulmates. She made the largest effort to ignore the mark on her right hip. That is until Oliver Queen came into her life.This is a story of the six times Felicity could have told Oliver about their mark, and the one time she finally does.





	1. The First Burn

**Author's Note:**

> I'm back with a fic that definitely has an ending! Hah! I would like to apologize for not writing more since January (?), but honestly school got the best of me. I don't think I will be continuing my Assassins Creed AU. I've honestly just lost inspiration for that. But I'm leaving it open for updates in case inspiration does come back. 
> 
> Anyhoo, without further ado, here is some version of a Soulmates AU. :)

Felicity didn’t really care for much these days. Except or her computers and her boyfriend, Cooper. Her mother is… her mother. Overwhelming. And her father is… something, somewhere. She doesn’t really know. And she doesn’t care. Not after he left her and her mother to fend for themselves. Her mother had once called him her soulmate, even though neither of them had a mark like Felicity does. Felicity lost hope in her father just like she lost hope in her soulmate mark.

Not many people are born with marks these days. And only a very small percentage of these people actually find their soulmates. So Felicity couldn’t really give a crap about her mark. Not when her mother and her broken relationship with Felicity’s father ruined the notion of soulmates for Felicity, even when her parents weren’t actually soulmates.

Felicity is not going to get her hopes up like she did when she thought her father would come back.

Felicity did care about Cooper, though. He’s cute and sweet. He understands her anger at the world, even embraces it. He cares enough to look past the dark makeup and dark clothes.

So if he wants to get wasted at a college party, something he, let alone she, rarely does, she’ll take care of him.

But honestly, Felicity is totally over it. Ever since her last experience at a college party, which involved a very special nut filled brownie, she’s had it with college parties.

She’s definitely had it with this entitled frat boy trying to flirt with her as she leans against a wall in the frat house. 

“You know, I’ve never really had a thing for goths but, “ she feels his eyes looking her up and down, “you could probably change my mind.”

All Felicity can do is roll her eyes. She hadn’t done anything to attract this guy’s attention. She had just been watching the party antics with a cup of beer in her hand, not really drinking from it.

Felicity’s usually really good at being invisible, even with her unconventional style choices. So she had to cover up her surprise when this tall, fit blonde Ken doll frat boy with a handsome face but unfortunate haircut sauntered toward her through the crowd of drunk college students.

Felicity could’ve moved from her place against the wall to avoid Ken Doll, but for some reason, she didn’t. She just remained in place, almost like she was waiting (thought Felicity would never admit to that).

She could just walk away right now, like the intellectual side of her brain is telling her. But instead, she finishes off her beer, tosses it into the nearest trash can, folds her arms, and simply states, “I have a boyfriend.”

Ken Doll moves closer to her, right into her space, and leans his right arm against the wall above her head. He ducks his head down to make sure they make eye contact. He opens his mouth and all Felicity can smell is alcohol.

“Oh, do you?”

Under normal circumstances, Felicity might have slapped the guy. But strangely, her body wouldn’t move. In fact, it does the opposite of what she wants it to do, which is to turn bright red.

When his other hand lands on her right hip, right where her mark is, she jumps.

Her mark had never done anything except be there. But once this drunk, intense frat boy laid his hand on her mark, it started to burn. And not in a bad way. It almost feels… good.

And that scared the hell out of Felicity.

It scared her so much, she froze under his burning touch and intense gaze.

“Where is he now?”

When his hand tightens around her hip, his eyes widen at the action and his brows furrow.

“What the–” he exclaims before looking down at his right hip.

The frat boy lets go of Felicity and takes a step back. Before she knows it, he’s lifting up his shirt over his right hip and shift his jeans down a bit to reveal a black mark, shaped in the vague form of an arrow.

Exactly like hers.

Felicity’s eyes widen. It can’t be. This guy can’t be her soulmate.

“Huh,” Ken Doll huffs. “I could’ve sworn I felt something from it a second ago.”

Felicity then realizes that the burning had stopped the moment the fratboy removed his hand from her hip. From her (their?) mark.

“I must be so drunk I’m imaging things,” the frat boy says, recovering from the initial shock that his (their?) mark caused. Felicity can only dumbly nod.

Ken Doll must take that as a sign to continue his advances because he steps back into her space. “I’m Oliver Queen,” he introduces himself with a smirk. “What’s your name?”

“Her name,” says an angry voice from behind him, “is Felicity. My girlfriend.”

It’s Cooper, grabbing Oliver’s shoulder to pull him back from Felicity. Either Cooper uses a lot of his strength to pull Oliver forcibly back or the alcohol in Oliver’s system has made him unsteady because the frat boy stumbles back.

Oliver raises his hands and apologizes, “Hey, man. Sorry. You weren’t around. I figured I could try to entertain your girl, “ he slips on a suggestive grin, “while you were gone.”

With his cheeks already red from his drunken state, Cooper absolutely fumes red. He grabs Oliver’s collar and growls, “That’s not your job!”

“Well, you weren’t doing that great of a job, so I thought I would step in!”

The budding “Whose dick is bigger?” fight snaps Felicity out of her reverie.

Felicity pushes off the wall and marches toward the boys, who have started shoving each other.

“Okay! Okay! That is enough!” She grabs Cooper by the arm before a real drunken fist fight begins. “It was nice meeting you, Oliver, but we have to go.”

Felicity flashes him a forced smile before dragging her boyfriend away from the party. As they walk away, Cooper grumbling to himself, Felicity can’t help but feel Oliver’s eyes on her.

Before she can stop herself, Felicity turns her head to see Oliver watching her leave, a hand rubbing the spot where their soulmate mark lies on his right hip.

When he catches her eyes, Felicity immediately turns her head back around.

She walks away.

He drinks himself to oblivion.

She doesn’t care about soulmates.

… She doesn’t.


	2. Don't Say Soulmate

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Felicity gets a really interesting visitor at work after a certain someone returns to Starling City after five years on a deserted island.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is the next update! I tried to get it up earlier, but I ended up falling asleep while typing. I probably shouldn't be typing while lying down in bed.

Felicity always finds it ironic that the farthest best workplace from MIT and her days as a hacktivist would be Queen Consolidated. After meeting her apparent soulmate at that college party a few years ago, Felicity had vehemently pushed the memory way back into her mind. She hadn’t even told Cooper about it. He didn’t care about her mark at all. He thought soulmates were overrated. Of course, Felicity tried not to think about Cooper so much anymore. Not after what happened to him because of her and her terrifying skills with a computer.

Upon receiving the job offer from the CEO of QC, Walter Steele, and discovering that her soulmate’s family owns the company, she almost declined the job, But, and she admits this sounds a little morbid, since Oliver Queen was declared after he and his father most likely drowned when their boat was wrecked in a storm in the middle of the ocean, Felicity had figured she wouldn’t have to deal with any soulmate related issues.

That is, until a few weeks ago, when Oliver Queen is discovered on a deserted island in the North China Sea and is returned home after five years.

His return, of course, causes pandemonium the second word got out of his survival. Every media outlet has been going nuts about Oliver Queen. How has he survived five years on an island? What did he eat? What took so long to find him? How did he get so fit? (Felicity has tried her hardest to avoid those types of articles. The tabloid pictures she’d seen of him before she forced herself to stop had her insides in knots.)

She considered quitting her job and moving to Central City, but her own stubbornness gets the best of her every time she does consider it. So Felicity is sticking with QC. She just hopes the odds are in her favor this time.

Of course, they’re not though, because when she is entirely too focused on filling out the reports on her most recent change to QC’s cyber security with a red pen sticking out between her teeth, a gruff clearing of the throat catches her attention.

“Felicity Smoak?”

It’s been years, but she can still recognize his voice. Out of shock, Felicity wheels her chair around and takes the pen out of her mouth, hoping she doesn’t look too frazzled as her lips most definitely form into an ‘o’.

“Hi, I’m Oliver Queen.”

Felicity tries her hardest to just stare in shock and not blurt out the first thing on her mind. “Of course! I know who you are. You’re–” Don’t say “my soulmate”. Don’t say it. “–Mr. Queen.”

Phew. Felicity has to hold back her sigh of relief that she didn’t say those mortifying two words. It doesn’t seem like he recognizes her.

Oliver shakes his head. “No, Mr. Queen was my father.”

“Right, but he’s dead.” And Felicity thought she couldn’t say anything worse than admitting they are soulmates. She shakes her head to clear her mind from more inappropriate words. “I mean he drowned.”

Someone kill her now. Of course, her brain loves to prove her wrong every time when it comes to social interaction.

“But you didn’t. Which means you could come down to the IT department and listen to me babble.” The way he just stares at her, amused, makes her even more nervous for some reason. Felicity really needs to stop herself now. “Which will end in three, two, one…”

Miraculously still here despite her awful and inappropriate babbling, Olive reveals a laptop. “I’m having some trouble with my computer,” he explains,” and they told me that you were the person to come and see.”

He lays the laptop down on her desk, folds his very big, very attractive muscular arms, and continues,” I was at my coffee shop, surfing the web, and I spilled a latte on it.”

The second Felicity examines the laptop, her eyebrows raise. Are those bullet holes?”

“Really?” she doubts, giving Oliver a chance to tell her the truth. “Because these look like bullet holes…”

Quick to the beat, with the straightest face he seems to muster, he lies, “My coffee shop is in a bad neighborhood.”

While this interaction is a hundred times better than their first one, Felicity can’t help but tilt her head in disbelief at how ridiculous this man is. His coffee shop is in a “bad neighborhood?” Is he serious? That’s the best he could come up with to cover up whatever bizarre thing that happened to result in a bullet-ridden laptop.

To recover from his embarrassingly bad lie, Oliver immediately puts on a charming smile, reminiscent of his frat boy days. “If there is anything that you could salvage from it, I would really appreciate that.”

If Felicity were any other girl, she might have fallen for his charm. However, despite her disbelief in him, Felicity keeps eye contact with Oliver. This time around, it’s not sexually fueled, but that doesn’t make it any less intense. She almost can’t breathe for a moment. Before she knots it, Felicity responds with a nod.

Maybe she’s not as immune to his charm as she thinks.

It barely takes her five minutes to get all the files recovered from the laptop’s hard drive, but Oliver has made himself comfortable by grabbing an empty chair from one of the empty cubicles around hers. He waits patiently and quietly at her side while she sifts through the files.

What Felicity finds is strange for a formerly deserted island resident to have on his laptop. “It looks like blueprints…”

“Do you know what of?” he asks.

Her brow furrows slightly. Strange question from the person who supposedly owns this laptop.

What follows is an exchange that proves to Felicity that this isn’t really his laptop and leaves Oliver deep in thought for a few seconds, almost as if he is planning something in his head. 

When he doesn’t seem to be snapping out of it anytime soon, Felicity inquires,”Would that be all, Mr. Queen?”

“Oliver,” he responds without hesitation.

“Right. Oliver… Is there anything else I could help you with?” she asks again.

“If you could put these files on this flash drive for me,” he pulls one out of his pants pocket, “that would be great.”

Felicity nods and takes the drive from him. She tries to ignore the rush of energy that soars through her when their fingers brush by hurrying along with the transfer process. After a minute, all the strange files have been loaded onto Oliver’s flash drive.

“Here you go, Mister–uh–Oliver,” she corrects herself as she hands him the drive.

Oliver pockets it and stands up. “Thank you, Felicity.”

He puts his used chair back where it came from and moves to stand in front of her desk. Making eye contact again, Oliver offers a sincere smile and says, “I really appreciate this.”

Felicity observes him a little. He’s so much different than the frat boy she remembers from all those years ago. It’s almost refreshing, this new level of sincerity he has. But she still can’t ignore the fact that he’s lying about something.

“It’s not a problem,” she answers with a polite smile. He isn’t the same person he was back in college. Oliver is incredibly respectful and sincere now, if not a little bit suspicious with the whole bullet-ridden laptop. So Felicity really hopes she won’t regret it when she adds, “If you need anymore IT help, you know where to find me.”

With that, he moves towards the door with a smile on his face.

Felicity nearly sinks in her seat to relax before Oliver pauses at the door. He lays a hand on the doorframe, tapping it a bit with his index finger, before turning his head back to her. “Actually, I have one more question.”

Frack. Felicity has a feeling she knows what he’s going to say. But she can’t exactly tell Oliver Queen that he’s not allowed to ask her more questions, so she offers a small, hopefully not too nervous smile in confirmation for him to continue.

“Have we met before?”

It’s almost like the air is sucked out from her lungs. Even though she had been expecting the question, it still manages to fluster her. “Uh… no, I don’t think so,” she answers unconvincingly. To try to cover up her horrible lying skills (does it run in the soulmate area?), she lets out a nervous laugh, “I’m sure I would remember meeting Oliver Queen.”

He seems to hesitate to accept her lie, given the hunt of doubt in his gaze, but he purses his lips a little and nods. “Alright. Sorry for the weird question. You just… remind me of someone I met a few years ago.”

So Oliver does remember her. Or at least the old her, with the dark hair, dark clothes, and dark heavy makeup. She looks entirely different now, her hair dyed blonde, her makeup light, and her clothes brightly colored. Of course, he wouldn’t be able to recognize her right away. In a way, that was the whole point to her makeover.

“Thanks again, Felicity,” Oliver says before finally walking through the door.

Felicity doesn’t expect the pang of disappointment that hits her when he leaves. Shouldn’t she be glad he doesn’t recognize her? SHe’s never really wanted a soulmate.

Even though they weren’t actually soulmates, her parents had ruined the idea of soulmates and romantic love for her. Cooper had tried to remedy that, but… that didn’t turn out very well, to put it lightly.

The concept of love and soulmates has been shattered for Felicity. She can’t give her heart to someone. Not fully. That just gives them more opportunity to tear it apart.

So why does some small part of her wish she had told Oliver that she is the girl that made his mark burn all those years ago?

Felicity huffs out a frustrated breath. She is going to regret telling him to drop by every time he needs some tech help.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed it! I might be able to get the next update out tomorrow, but after that, you might have to wait a few days. I've got two midterms lined up for next week. Wish me luck! Drop a kudos if you haven't already and leave a comment below to tell me what you think! They honestly drive me to write faster so go go go! And follow me on [tumblr](http://nerdyandturdy.tumblr.com) if that's a sort of thing you want to do. :)


	3. A Different Perspective

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> When Oliver gets shot by his mother, Diggle gets to see Oliver and Felicity without the distractions of the QC employees.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, that's my second round of midterms done! Now I just have 1 more midterm, which is only two weeks before the final. That's going to be really fun! This one was a bit of a toughy to write, so I couldn't get it up last Sunday like I thought I would be able to. But here it is! I hope it doesn't get too confusing when the POV switches in the middle of the fic, but it kinda just happened.

Felicity doesn’t know what’s wrong with her shoulder, but there’s this dull pain that’s been bothering her for the past few minutes. It’s not even in the usual place in her back, by her shoulder blade. It’s more toward the front, where her left collar bone is.

She chalks it up to stress. Ever since Walter Steele disappeared during the holidays and Felicity gave Oliver Walter’s book of names about a week ago, she’d thrown herself into her work to keep her mind off of her missing boss and her mysterious soulmate. She’d almost told Oliver about their mark right there in that Big Belly Burger when he’d sincerely told her that she could trust him. The way his bright blue eyes had turned so kind and reassuring toward her, even when the book had clearly shaken him, had almost broken through to the hopeful part of Felicity that she clearly inherited from her mother. 

Luckily, she’d been able to rein that part of her in, no matter how much Felicity had wanted to feel that almost delicious burn of her mark again.

That urge had been growing and growing ever since Oliver had found her at QC. She didn’t think he’d take her up on her offer to help him with any technical issues so soon, but he had. And he does so pretty often.

First, it was the bullet-ridden laptop. Then it was finding his “old buddy” Derek Reston. Then it was a very suspicious black arrow, which raised a few red flags, given that Starling City now has a bow and arrow-wielding vigilante running around at night. After the arrow cam a very strongly encrypted security fob with incredibly illegal looking plans on it. Then just before she’d handed Oliver Walter’s book, it was a very scary, incredibly eyebrow-raising syringe full of an “energy drink.” Felicity has her suspicions about that one. Maybe Vertigo? But what would a billionaire be doing trying to figure out where Vertigo is being made? The thought had made her shudder.

All these strange requests have led to even more time with Oliver that she didn’t want. Or at least that’s what Felicity tells herself. With each encounter, Felicity feels their bond grow stronger, even though they never stray from shop talk. Felicity hasn’t been able to tell if Oliver has even noticed or felt their connection yet, but she certainly has.

Ugh. Someone tell her why she didn’t move out of Starling when she had the chance. Felicity didn’t come here to deal with soulmate crap. Instead of thinking too hard about “he-must-not-be-named,” and she’s not talking about Voldemort, Felicity threw herself into her work.

It’s a Wednesday night when she’s so caught up in her server room office that she doesn’t realize how late it’s gotten. It’s when she starts packing up to head home that Felicity starts to feel a dull pain near her collarbone.

She must be beyond exhausted if her body is choosing random spots to pick on.

With tired eyes, Felicity makes her way to her red Mini Cooper. Despite her exhaustion, she can’t help but feel that there’s something wrong, so she hurries to the driver door.

A pained grunt in the backseat of her car scares the hell out of her.

When she turns to look, her eyes go wide. It’s the freaking Hood. Holy Frack.

“I’m not going to hurt you, Felicity.”

Hearing his voice, Felicity immediately know who it is, yet she still asks in a panicked voice, “How do you know my name?”

Then, he pulls his hood back. “Because you know my name.”

Double frack. It  _ is  _ Oliver. Her soulmate. Who is currently bleeding all over her backseat.

Felicity wants to take him to the hospital. Desperately so. However, even in his weak state, Oliver insists she take him to his father’s old steel factory.

So she does.

Felicity doesn’t have the time to think about the fact that her shoulder has been hurting because Oliver’s is so severely injured in the same spot. He’s bleeding out so much it has Felicity shaken to her bones. She almost drives on autopilot, especially when Oliver seems to pass out just after telling her how to get to the factory. Luckily, he’d also told her where to park her car and the code to the back entrance of his secret lair. It saves her the time of having to hack in.

Felicity zooms into the parking lot and tries not to flip her Mini over when she brakes hard.

Her next obstacle is getting Oliver down into the lair. Out of panic, she fails to notice the other car present in the lot while she struggles to lift Oliver from the backseat. Only after a few seconds does she realize the town car in the lot, most definitely driven by Oliver’s bodyguard, John Diggle.

So Felicity rushes to the sealed door, punching the code as quickly as she can. Mr. Diggle almosts shoots her when she catches his attention, but once she notices the bloodstains on her clothes, he realizes she is no threat and they hurry to gather Oliver.

The next few hours are brutal for her sanity. The first time Oliver flatlines, it’s like her world stops. With the small amount of time they’ve spent together, Felicity didn’t think that their marks had bonded all that much. The connection had definitely gotten stronger, evident by the pain she feels in her shoulder and collarbone. But when Oliver’s heart stops, it feels as though hers does too.

She is only jostled out of her frozen state when Mr. Diggle springs into action and pulls out the shock cart.

After what seems like forever, Oliver is finally in a stable condition, but not without giving her and Mr. Diggle a few more heart attacks (almost literally for her).

Now they wait for him to wake up. Since her focus doesn’t have to be on Oliver every second now, although part of her wants to keep an eye on him at all times, Felicity now has the opportunity to survey Oliver’s secret lair.

It’s… not the greatest thing Felicity’s ever seen. It’s just a dark, dingy basement. The tables here and there, with arrows and other vigilante equipment, just look like a haphazard attempt at a secret base. And don’t get her started on that atrocity of a computer setup. Walking over to Oliver’s computers, a scrunched up, disgusted look on her face, she takes account of how archaic the setup is. By Felicity’s standards, it’s almost as archaic as Oliver’s choice of weaponry.

“Something wrong?” Mr. Diggle asks from behind her.

“Other than this poor excuse of a computer system?”

He chuckles. “Well, Oliver isn’t exactly a computer expert.” Crossing his arms, he continues with a shake of his head, “If he’s an expert at anything it’s giving me a hard time keeping him alive.”

“Yeah, I don’t know how you deal with that.”

Mr. Diggle chuckles again. “Honestly, I don’t know either.”

She laughs with him. Tapping on the desk of computers, Felicity contemplated how she could fix the setup. “Do you think our dear Mr. Hood would mind if I tinker with his computers?” She doesn’t know why she asks because she already starts moving off all the clutter. “I don’t think I could stand it here if I didn’t do something about it.”

“Given you’re the one with a Masters in Computer Science, I don’t think he’d argue.”

Felicity turns back around to Mr. Diggle. “And Cyber Security. Computer Science and Cyber Security.” She goes to return to the computers and continue her work, but then she realizes what the bodyguard has said. “Wait, how do you know that? It’s not like a have a glowing neon sign in my office.”

“Our Mr. Queen had me do some research on you. To make sure he could trust you.”

Felicity rolls her eyes. “Of course he did.”

She goes back to the computers, thinking about how a third monitor could probably be set up while checking Oliver’s software. A few minutes pass before Felicity realizes Mr. Diggle is staring at her.

Repeating his earlier question to him, she asks, “Something wrong, Mr. Diggle?”

“First, my friends call me Diggle.”

“Oh! Are we friends now?”

“Considering we just worked together to save this man’s ass,” he points his thumb behind him to Oliver on the medical table, “I’d say we’re friends.”

“Okay, Diggle,” she says, testing it out. “What’s the second thing?”

Diggle observes her for a moment, contemplating if he should ask her. He’s seen Oliver’s mark. At first, he thought it was a tattoo. He’d mentioned to Oliver that he thought it ironic that he have a tattoo of an arrowhead. However, in a rare moment of honesty, Oliver had voiced it was actually his soulmate mark. In the end, Diggle does ask Felicity. “How long have you known about Oliver’s soulmate mark?”

Felicity’s fingers freeze over the keyboard, and she is sure that she’s broken out into a nervous sweat. “What? I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she denies.

Well, that didn’t sound convincing at all. And Diggle knows it.

He raises an eyebrow. “Really? Because I saw you touching it after the last time Oliver coded an hour ago. Plus, you’ve been rubbing the same spot on your body as Oliver’s wound.”

Felicity admits to having been feeling a bit of the pain at her collarbone, but she doesn’t even remember laying a hand on Oliver other than keeping him from bleeding out.

“You were probably too focused on Oliver to notice you were.” Diggle gives her a chance to say something, but she doesn’t. Felicity is too blindsided by Diggle’s observations and her lack of subtlety to think of anything. “I’m guessing by your reaction that you probably share the same mark.

Slowly, Felicity turns the computer chair toward Diggle, her bottom lip pulled between her teeth. She can barely meet Diggle’s eyes. In a small voice, she pleads, “Please don’t tell him.”

Diggle wants to inquire more. Any soulmate would give anything for a chance to be with their soulmate. His grandfather almost gave up his life to be with Diggle’s grandmother. Why isn’t Felicity jumping at this chance?

But he doesn’t want to overstep her boundaries. Especially if she might be joining him and Oliver in the lair. “I won’t,” he promises, though he hopes in the future she’d be able to tell him why she doesn’t want to be with her soulmate.

Felicity blows a breath of relief and nods her thanks. Then she returns to upgrading the computer system, the tension still in her shoulders.

It only depletes slightly when, another hour later, Oliver finally wakes up. But the furrow in her brow doesn’t truly disappear.

Diggle watches the two of them interact. He’s seen the two of them together before, at the QC offices. He found it amusing how Felicity would always get flustered around the billionaire. But now he can see it’s different than the crush he thought Felicity had on Oliver.

She only flusters because she’s hesitant to be around her soulmate. Probably one of the reasons she’s joining Oliver’s crusade part time.

“I’ll help you rescue Walter, but that’s it,” Felicity says. She catches Diggle’s eye for a second and falters. He can tell she struggles with keeping her soulmate in the dark. But she recovers quickly. “Then I want to go back to my boring life of being an IT girl.”

Away from her soulmate, Diggle assumes she says in her head. Her eyes flicker to Diggle again, but continues to say, “That’s my offer.”

Felicity stands there, nervous but still confident, waiting for Oliver’s response. Diggle can’t help but admire her for that.

Quietly, with a nod, Oliver agrees, “Okay.”

Again, Felicity looks like she’s struggling to say something, but Diggle sees the moment she pushes the urge to say it down. Then she rambles on about needing to use the bathroom.

This girl really is something else, Diggle decides. He’s about to go clean up all the medical supplies when Oliver stops Felicity before she heads upstairs to the restroom. Holding out his head, Oliver waits for Felicity to take it.

She hesitates, but she does. For that moment, as Oliver gives her a sincere “Thank you,” Diggle can tell that the rest of the room disappears from them. For just a moment, the two of them seem completely entranced with one another. 

But then, Felicity pulls her hand back, almost like it’s been burned. Nervously, she smiles at both of them before heading up the stairs, unconsciously rubbing the painful spot on her collarbone.

Diggle watches Oliver. He stares curiously at the hand he used to shake Felicity’s. Did his hand burn too? Then, the injured vigilante shakes his head and masks his curiosity.

Diggle turns back to Felicity on the stairs, then back to the idiotically oblivious man standing in front of him, wrapped in a blanket.

God, help him, Diggle prays. These two will probably be the death of him.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, there it is! Someone totally guessed that Diggle would know right off the bat that Felicity and Oliver are soulmates. I figured that I would have some family members of his be soulmates so he would be able to tell the signs of soulmates. I haven't started on the next chapter yet, as I literally just finished writing this chapter, but I might get started on that tonight. I will say that we are now done with season 1, so the next chapter will be set in season 2. I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Leave me a kudos if you haven't already and drop a comment. They really give me motivation.


	4. What Happens In Russia...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Six months after the Undertaking, Oliver, Felicity, and Diggle find themselves in Russia. What Felicity finds is completely unexpected.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't stop myself from writing this chapter yesterday instead of doing my homework. I started writing it after I posted the last chapter and then I found that I couldn't stop! You're all in for a bit of an emotional rollercoaster. I'm sorry. I had to do it.

If Felicity didn’t know any better, she’d think she would bore a path into the carpet of her hotel room with all the pacing she’s doing.

When they set off for Russia yesterday, with the unfortunate accompaniment of she-devil Isabel Rochev, Felicity hadn’t thought of how nerve wracking the waiting would be. In fact, she should have thought ahead of time at how crazy ridiculous this plan is. Having Digg infiltrate a high-security Russian prison by himself? How did they think this is a good idea?

However, neither she nor Oliver would’ve been able to stop Digg from coming here. Not when it comes to ARGUS agent Lyla Michaels, his ex-wife (and what a surprise that had been).

Now all she and Oliver have to do is wait until it’s time to head out for Diggle’s extraction. Hopefully, all will go well.

But Felicity just can’t escape the feeling that something wrong is going to happen on this trip. So that’s what has led to Felicity pacing in her hotel room. Oliver went down to the hotel bar hoping a drink would calm down his nerves. She would’ve joined him, but frankly, she’s this close to a nervous breakdown that Felicity would rather not be in public for that. 

Seriously. What if Digg is in real danger? From the looks Oliver has had all day, not to mention the almost terrifying encounter with the Bratva and their big guns, there’s a big chance Digg won’t make it out unscathed. Not to mention, if she’s even there, what Lyla’s condition will be.

Oof. Felicity really needs to not think about this. She needs to think about anything other than one of her best friends being in some unknown trouble.

She can think about puppies! Or the latest episode of  _ Doctor Who _ … Or Oliver…

No! Not Oliver!

Do not think about… Oliver.

Oh, who is she kidding? Felicity thinks about Oliver almost every day of her life now. How can she not when she sees him almost every day and every night?

Ever since Felicity and Diggle brought him back to Starling from Lian Yu, where he’d taken refuge after the Undertaking, she and Oliver had definitely gotten closer. For the first few weeks, despite being incredibly angry at him for making her his glorified secretary, she’s actually grown to enjoy working with him. Sure, she’s actually been doing most of this work, but it’s cute to know that he’s trying.

Felicity laughs to herself. Oliver Queen. Cute. Since the day she found out about Oliver’s secret vigilante life, Felicity never thought she would ever describe Oliver as cute again. Usually, he’s much to growly for that.

But seeing him try his damnedest to stay awake during office meetings or try to sort through all his daily paperwork, Felicity can’t help but find that little furrow in his brow cute. Not to mention his confused looks whenever she throws computer jargon at him in the new and improved foundry, courtesy of her (and Diggle’s gigantic arms).

Felicity isn’t quite sure yet if she regrets her placement of the salmon ladder though. While she appreciates that delicious view of Oliver going up and down that thing, it can be very distracting. And again, the rational side of her brain would like to remind her that she really shouldn’t be spending so much time thinking about and ogling at her soulmate. Not if she wants to keep their bond from growing stronger.

And it has been. Now, almost every time someone injures Oliver, she can feel it. Almost every time something frustrates or angers him, she can feel it. Luckily for her, Oliver seems to be in a state of constant frustration that he doesn’t seem to notice when she’s in the same state. While Felicity can’t tell if Oliver feels the same symptoms of the bond as her, she knows he must feel something. That’s just how soulmate bonds work. They go both ways. At least according to Google.

Not only is their soulmate bond growing, so is their friendship. While he’s still not the most open guy, Oliver isn’t quite the same guy that he was during his first year back from the island. During those first few months as a team, neither she nor Digg knew anything about Oliver’s time on the island. When Sara Lance came back from the dead, though she didn’t fail to bring some trouble with her, he did open up about now the youngest Lance didn’t drown when the Gambit sank. He didn’t go into much detail, but given that nothing good ever happened, she and Digg hadn’t pressed the issue further. Still, the Oliver a year ago probably wouldn’t have said anything.

In addition, the Oliver a year ago wouldn’t be so… flirty with her either. Sure, when Oliver was coming to her with ridiculous requests and unbelievable lies, he laid down the charm. But back then, they hadn’t been filled with so much… sexual tension. So much promise for more.

Diggle had, when they’d both gone to lunch at Big Belly while Oliver was visiting his mother at Iron Heights, pointed it out, attempting to convince her to tell Oliver about her mark. But Felicity had been quick to deny it. And to tell him for the hundredth time that she didn’t want to complicate her life, nor Oliver’s, with any soulmate drama. Then her friend made a side comment about how Oliver knowing would make  _ his _ life easier, to which Felicity pointedly glared at him before the waitress arrived with their orders.

However, despite her annoyance with Digg and his insistence of her to tell Oliver, recently she has been considering it.

When she was younger, after her dad left her and her mom, Felicity stopped believing in romantic love. After seeing her mother so devastated, crying every time she didn’t think Felicity would notice, she didn’t want to let someone have a hold of her heart like that. If someone had such a strong hold on her heart and just left, Felicity didn’t think she’d ever be the same. She didn’t want to experience that kind of hurt. So she put up a wall.

Cooper almost broke through them back in college, but then he chose a makeshift prison noose over her.

Suffice it to say, Felicity has been pretty adamant about not letting anyone too close to her heart. But now, Felicity’s not so sure she can resist Oliver Queen anymore.

Even though he tries his best to hide it, Oliver really does have a big heart. His tough exterior, though it tends to shine more than anything else, is balanced by his caring nature. He cares so much about his home and the people closest to him.He’s here, all the way in Russia with demon lady Isabel Rochev at his tail, to help his bodyguard and partner save his ex-wife, even though there’s a chance she’s not even there. Oliver really tries to take care of the people he cares about.

Now, Felicity finds herself wanting to be one of those people. Her right hand settles on her right hip, just over her soulmate mark.

Would it be so bad to just let him know?

Felicity’s thoughts are interrupted when suddenly her mark starts to burn. Unlike like the first time she felt it burn when Oliver had touched it all those years ago at that frat party, a pleasurable hot tingling on her skin, this time it stings. Badly. Her breath hitches, the pain so unexpected and, well, painful that she bends over, her hand now clutching her hip desperately. That bad feeling she was having earlier returns.

What the hell is happening? Has something happened to Oliver? Her mark hurts so badly she can’t grab her phone to check on him.

For an uncertain amount of time, Felicity sits at the edge of her hotel bed, her hands clamped around her mark and her breath labored. By the time the pain dissipates, the alarm on her phone sets off, signaling that it’s time for her to meet up with Oliver so they can begin their extraction plan.

Taking a calming breath, slowing her heart rate down, Felicity stands, wiping her sweaty hands on her pants legs. Almost in a trance, she gathers her things and walks out the door, headed toward Oliver’s room.

There aren’t any notifications on her phone except her alarm, so maybe Oliver is alright. Then again, if he isn’t, he might not be able to notify her. Did he feel that pain too? Did he cause it? What the hell happened?

Before Felicity knows it, she’s in front of Oliver’s room, getting ready to knock, that bad feeling still in the pit of her stomach. However, Oliver opens the door while she raises her hand to knock.

“Oh,” she voices, a somewhat nervous smile on her face as she lowers her hand. “Hi.”

By his surprised expression, Oliver clearly isn’t expecting her. “Uh, hi,” he greets awkwardly.

Felicity briefly takes in his appearance. He looks fine, if not a little untidy. He’s flushed, his cheeks slightly red. His hair isn’t as kept as it had been earlier. Even his suit is slightly wrinkled and the tie is missing. Did he take a nap and have a nightmare, causing the pain of her mark? That’s a thing in the soulmate world, right?

Felicity doesn’t want to alarm him, so she doesn’t ask all the questions running around though her head. Instead, as her worry for their friend returns, she states, “It’s time. Ready?”

For a millisecond, he hesitates, but he starts to reply, “Yeah, le–”

He can’t finish though, because right then, Isabel Rochev walks right through the door and meets her eyes, saying in a snarky tone, “I think she can take the night off.” Then she turns her head back to Oliver as she walks away, revealing her unzipped dress. “Don’t you?”

It really shouldn’t hurt as much as it does. But, oh, does it hurt.

Felicity stares at Isabel’s back for a moment, chocked by what just occurred and by the pain in her heart. She tries to reel in her emotions, but Oliver picks up on it right away.

“Felicity…” he calls out softly.

“I-it…” she stammers. No. She won’t let this get to her. She won’t. Felicity shakes her head and forces a smile. She can barely meet his eyes. “What happens in Russia stays in Russia.”

Briefly, Felicity does meet Oliver’s eyes. They’re riddled with guilt and right now, Felicity can’t deal with that. So she turns around and starts walking away, toward the lobby.

She doesn’t mean to say it out loud, but under her breath she voices, “Even when it makes no sense whatsoever.”

Felicity wants to cry. Or punch something. She’s not quite sure which one.

She’s also not sure why she’s feeling this way. Other than the fact that there are tons more women way better than Isabel Rochev, Felicity and Oliver aren’t together. She has no right to him.

Except she does, doesn’t she? They are soulmates after all.

That thought makes her realize that the pain from her mark earlier was caused by Oliver and …  _ her _ . Again, that hurts Felicity’s heart more than it should.

But she pushes down those feelings as Oliver’s Bratva friend Anatoly takes her hand and help her into the car. Felicity can’t be thinking about those things right now, as they wait for Oliver to join them.

Diggle needs them more than they need their stupid soulmate bond.

By some miracle, Felicity manages to push down her feelings for the sake of the mission, save for a brief moment alone with Oliver when she couldn’t keep her mouth shut. Successfully, they break Diggle, Lyla, and much to her shock, Floyd Lawton, better known as DeadShot, out from the Russian prison, though not without a few bruises on everyone and malnutrition on Lyla’s part.

The whole commotion distracts Felicity from thinking about that ungodly image of Isabel walking out of Oliver’s room all sexed up. At least, until they all return home to Starling.

When the jet touches down and they all exit, Felicity heading to the town car, she spots Oliver talking to Isabel out of the corner of her eye.

Felicity is quick to disappear into the car. On the drive to their respective homes, Diggle is too engrossed with having Lyla safe to notice the tension between Felicity and Oliver. But Felicity can sense every time Oliver glances her way every now and then. She wills him to stop, but he can’t help himself.

Despite her jetlag, Felicity can’t sleep that night.

The next day, they’re already back in work mode, though Digg has the day off to recover and spend his time with Lyla.So that leaves Oliver and Felicity alone at the office. Great.

She always arrives at the office before Oliver, and because Digg isn’t available to drive him, Oliver is more late than usual. She doesn’t greet him when she walks in, causing Oliver to sigh.

When he walks to her desk and asks her to deliver a document to Isabel’s office, she can't stop herself. “Why her?”

He stops walking toward his office.

“I mean, besides the obvious leggy model reason…”

Felicity immediately notices when Oliver puts on his mask. “It just kind of happened,” he explains. “It didn’t mean anything.”

But for some reason, it does for her. Felicity lowers her head, not able to meet Oliver’s eyes anymore. Why is she being like this? She never wanted to bond with her soulmate in the first place. So why does this whole matter hurt her so much?

Gently, Oliver tries to get her to meet his gaze again. “Hey…”

It takes a moment for Felicity to, but eventually, she does.

His blue eyes pierce through her. “Because of the life that I lead,” he pauses for a second to take a small breath, “I just think it’s better to not … be with someone that I could really care about.”

It’s a different level of sincerity than Felicity is used to from him. It’s more… brutal. It almost stings as much as her mark did.

She manages to nod slightly, more focused on trying to keep her tears at bay. Breaking eye contact and taking the papers he left for her, she stands and heads toward the elevators. Felicity plans to leave it at that. To push down that urge to hit him upside the head and knock some sense into him

But she doesn’t have the heart, Whatever connection she and Oliver have, the one that’s been growing stronger by the day, it slowly starts to sever. And Felicity can feel it, almost tearing at her heart. She wonders if he can feel it too.

It’s that last thought that makes her turn around and say, “Well I think… I think you deserve better than her.”

Normally, the romantic side of her would want to continue with “I think you deserve your soulmate.” It would imagine Oliver’s eyes widening as he realizes what she is implying. It would imagine Oliver stuttering over the fact that they are soulmates. It would imagine him begging for her forgiveness, hoping to mend their bond back together. But today, that part of Felicity remains silent.

She walks away toward the elevator, not noticing Oliver’s mask slip and reveal a longing gaze, his hand moving toward his right hip.

In the safety of the elevator, Felicity fortifies her walls once more.

She will not let this break her, she wills herself to believe as she wipes a single tear from her cheek.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm really sorry about that... But also not sorry? :D I hope you guys enjoyed that angst fest. I'm not sure I'll be able to post the next chapter in the next few days because I'll be busy with schoolwork and my friend coming up for a visit, but I don't think you'll be waiting for more than a week. Drop by my [tumblr](http://nerdyandturdy.tumblr.com) for updates on that. Let me know what you think in the comments or drop a kudos if you haven't already. Like I said, they really motivate me.


	5. The Clock King

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Nothing could hurt more than a bullet... right?
> 
> Team Arrow deals with the Clock King, but a few of them end up dealing with something a little more emotionally painful.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's finally here! I'm sorry it's late, so I'll let y'all get to it without adieu.

This is stupid. This is so incredibly stupid. What the hell is she doing?

When Felicity got the alert that William Tockman, otherwise known as the “Clock King” (evil villains should really stop naming themselves) had taken Oliver’s very expensive bait at Starling National Bank, her first thought was to call the team first. Any rational person would.

Except Felicity took one look at the dark foundry, all her equipment, her  _ babies _ , fried, and was already heading out the door with her tablet tucked under her arm and a black leather jacket in the other. 

And no, the decision to take the leather jacket is not at all inspired by Sara Lance. It’s near midnight in Starling and it’s cold. And leather jackets are her thing! … At least, they used to be during her college goth days.

Who is she kidding? The jacket is definitely inspired by Sara. How could it not? Sara is a complete badass. A beautiful, blonde badass. Not only can she kick ass, but she also knows her fair amount of biology and can work her way around a computer.

It’s a stupid and untrue thought, but Felicity can’t help but think Sara is doing a much better job in the foundry than she is at the moment. The rational part of Felicity’s brain knows it’s just her insecurities shining through, but those insecurities speak very loudly.

With how all the foundry’s technology is barely working because she allowed a crazy mad man to hack into them, Felicity is failing at her job as Arrow tech support. She can’t even throw a punch right, even with all the basic training Digg put her through. Next to Sara, who just seems to be excelling at everything lately, Felicity just feels inadequate.

It’s not even about Sara being with Oliver now. And by with, she means all kissy and lovey with him. Digg had pointed out as much before he left for some late night Big Belly for them, but Felicity knows it’s not that. At least, it’s not the main part. 

Despite that surprisingly crushing “What happens in Russia” incident, things between Oliver and her had been alright. In their line of work, it’s not safe for them to be distracted by any personal issues. Their bond isn’t as strong as it used to be, even if it had only just started to form. After Russia and the whole “I can’t be with someone I could really care about” thing, Felicity could tell that whatever they had is… less. Don’t get her wrong. They still work like a well-oiled machine, Digg included. And she can still feel twinges of pain when Oliver gets seriously hurt. But they’re not as in sync as they used to be.

That whole situation with Shrapnel (not to mention Barry Allen) had told them as much. Or her, since Oliver doesn’t know about their mark yet.

Felicity believes that the crack in their bond is due to Oliver inadvertently denying their bond. Even though he doesn’t know about their bond, by saying he couldn’t be with someone he could care about, Oliver had pretty much written off the idea that he and Felicity could be something in the future.

Though she had been hurt at the prospect that they wouldn’t have a chance, just when she’d been on her way to letting Oliver in, she’d been okay with it. Oliver Queen is a damage, self-sacrificing creature. It makes sense that he wouldn’t want to bring in someone close to him because of his night job. Felicity would be the same if she was in his shoes.

The part that bothers he is that Oliver definitely cares about Sara. A lot. They’ve known each other for years. They’ve obviously been through hell together. And they look so… easy together because they know each other so well. They can both kick ass and take more than a punch.

So the requirement to be with Oliver is to be a badass, huh?

Something Felicity definitely is not, clearly evident by the way she yelps when Digg pulls her up from her poor excuse of a hiding spot. One look at Digg’s face and she knows she’s in trouble.

“Ahem…” It’s Oliver in full Arrow gear with Sara in her own gear close behind him.

With wide eyes and shortness of breath, because  _ wow _ , adrenaline, Felicity explains, “I’m tracking Tockman. He fried our computers so I’m using the bank’s system to trace the skeleton key’s signature.”

Sara steps closer to her, surveying Felicity with an amused smirk. “And the jacket?”

Definitely not an attempt to be as badass as her. Nope.

“I was cold.”

Sara just nods, that same amused smirk still on her face.

God, why does she have to be so cool? Felicity has every reason to hate Sara. She’s sleeping with her soulmate! But Sara is also a kind, amazing, and strong woman. Felicity admires her for having gone through what she has and still manages to smile. Plus, she makes Oliver happy.

Diggle is in the process of taking her back to the foundry when the bank’s security alarms start blaring. Felicity rushes back to the computer she’d been working on to see Tockman’s henchmen entering the building.

Sara goes to visit the goons, but Oliver stops her, saying, “I’ll deal with them.” His voice is a little grumpy, a telltale sign that tells Felicity he wants to beat out his frustration with her on the goons.

Felicity can’t focus on him though since she’s too busy tracking Tockman’s location. “Tockman’s signal is strong. He’s here. He’s close.”

She just needs to ignore all those insecurities whispering in her ear that she can’t do this.

“Find him, Felicity,” Digg says in an encouraging voice.

A digitized voice suddenly speaks, “No need.”

It’s Tockman.

The computer screen in front of her starts flickering, displaying the images the older hacker has been using to make known his online presence.

“I’ll tell you exactly where I am. I am everywhere,” the villain proclaims.

Ugh. Talk about arrogant.

“At the moment,” Tockman continues, “I’m particularly focused on the sub-level. The gas mains, specifically.”

Oh, frack.If he’s shut off the gas main release, the whole place could blow. This is not good, especially if Felicity doesn’t currently have the capacity, mental or technologically, to turn it back on again.

Diggle runs to find the gas mains, leaving Felicity and Sara to find Tockman while Oliver beats up his goons.

Watching the gas levels rise on her tablet, it finally clicks in Felicity’s head.

Tockman is in the city’s network. She lives in that network.

Sara gives her a confused look. “Am I supposed to understand that?”

Felicity tries to push the slight pride that rises to explain. “In trying to blow us up, Tockman gave me a way to track his location.

The other blonde nods, symbolically handing Felicity the baton to lead. “That I understood.”

After briefly checking that Oliver has Tockman’s goons handled, the two girls head over to the villain’s location, which Felicity finds in just seconds. She really regrets not changing from her skirt into pants before she left because, for one, it’s cold, and two, she has to hike it up way too high for her liking to ride on Sara’s motorcycle.

The regret is lost, however, when they arrive at Tockman’s warehouse hideout and Felicity is more worried about her adrenaline hiking up than her skirt.

As they get off the motorcycle, Oliver’s comms click on. “What’s happening?”

Sara is already rushing ahead, so Felicity answers breathlessly as she catches up, “Digg’s working on preventing a huge gas explosion. Sara and I are after Tockman.”

She can practically see Oliver bristling. “You and Sara are what?”

Felicity doesn’t get to answer though because when she catches up to Sara, she tackles her to the ground to prevent Tockman’s bullet from going through Sara’s chest. It doesn’t register at first, the pain. Hyped up on adrenaline, Felicity is too focused on making sure her friend, yes her friend, is okay. But then she feels the searing pain in her shoulder.

It hurts like  _ hell _ .

She can’t help but gasp in pain as Tockman attempts to justify is crime spree.

“You don’t understand why I’m doing this,” he says. “The money’s not for me!”

It’s hard to concentrate on his words as Felicity struggles with the pain of a freaking bullet in her shoulder. But she can still tell that Tockman’s sanity is waning. His body shakes in anger as he yells, “I’m doing this all for her!”

Sara, the damaged hero she is, replies, “Doesn’t make it right.”

Groaning in pain, Felicity reaches for her tablet, hoping Sara is enough to distract Tockman. Even though this gunshot wound hurts like nothing she’s ever felt, Felicity knows she can take Tockman out. It’s only a plus that she gets to use his own skills against him.

“Tempus fugit,” Tockman says.

With one more tap on her tablet, Felicity executes her code. “Time flies.”

At that, Tockman’s breast pocket lights up with sparks, shocking him the process. The villain collapses, his gun loosely hanging in his hand as he sprawls out on the ground, his body convulsing slightly before going still.

Sara, slightly wide-eyed behind her mask, asks, “What the hell was that?”

“His cell phone,” Felicity grunts, still suffering from her bullet wound. “I uploaded the same virus he used on my gear in the foundry.”

The other blonde goes to check on Tockman, kicking the gun out of his hand and checking his pulse. It’s with that action that Felicity realizes how much damage she might have caused. Despite the fact that Tockman is a killer, Felicity could never think of herself as one. Guilt immediately floods her. “I didn’t just kill him, did I?”

“Just knocked him out.”

Thank God… Felicity sighs in relief, her body sagging slightly. The action causes the pain in her shoulder to flare. It seems to call the attention of Sara once more because she rushes back to Felicity’s side.

Felicity feels the need to talk to distract herself from the pain. Looking back at Tockman’s unconscious body, she says, “We did it.”

With a gentle smile, Sara shakes her head. “No, you did it.”

Oliver’s noisy arrival prevents Felicity from sending Sara her own appreciative smile. “Felicity!”

He comes running through the doorway, not caring that he drops his bow carelessly on the ground as he kneels at her side. “You’re hurt.”

Felicity can’t help but say, “I don’t need to be told that.”

It’s reminiscent of the time when she found him wounded in her car last year. Oliver seems to remember as well, given his smile and shake of his head. Without another word, Oliver lifts her from the ground. The action causes a whimper of pain to pass through her lips because  _ ow _ . He mutters an apology before carrying her to where Digg is waiting in the van, leaving Sara to pick up his bow and follow closely behind them.

At one point, Felicity may have passed out from the pain on the ride back to the foundry. Bullet wounds are a  _ bitch _ .

Soon she finds herself in the foundry, Digg handing her some “aspirins” (she doesn’t believe him for a second because they have her completely loopy in a few minutes) and Sara stitching up her wound.

Felicity doesn’t quite remember what she says to the blonde vigilante, but she does know that she’s definitely gained a new friend out of this whole experience. What else would happen when you jump in front of a bullet for someone?

One would think it weird, being a friend to someone dating her soulmate, but right now, Felicity doesn’t care at all about soulmates. She’s too high on whatever Diggle gave her.

Her boys, and yeah, she calls them her boys in her head, find her loopiness amusing, even though their backs are turned for privacy and they can’t see her lolling her head around. 

Once Sara’s done with the stitches, she agrees to help Felicity change out of her skirt and into some more comfortable clothes in the bathroom because “It’s cold and I’m way too high on these aspirins to do anything,” as she explains.

Sara laughs, promising not to ogle at her personal assets too much while she helps her. FElicity must be rambling because Sara continues to laugh while she helps Felicity tug down her skirt without putting too much strain on her injured shoulder.

That is, until Sara spots the mark on her right hip. The same one she definitely knows is on Oliver’s right hip. She stops abruptly, immediately recognizing it. Felicity doesn’t notice at first, still rambling about how much bullets hurt, until she realizes what Sara is staring at.

Despite the cloudiness in her brain, Felicity panics. “Please don’t tell him.”

Sara furrows her brow and lifts her gaze up to Felicity’s face. “You two are… and you haven’t told him yet?”

Felicity pulls her lips into her mouth and shakes her head, unable to speak.

“How come you never said anything? Especially after he and I…?”

“Please, Sara, just don’t…” Felicity pleads. “I have my reasons. Just forget all about it. You won’t have to worry. I won’t come between you and Oliver. I promise.”

“But i…” Sara is without words. She stares at Felicity, the guilt steadily flooding her eyes. “I can’t be with Oliver knowing that you two are meant to be together.”

Felicity doesn’t feel so loopy anymore. She never intended for anyone else to find out about her mark. Especially Sara. With a fake smile, Felicity replies, “Just because we share a mark doesn’t mean we are meant to be together. I’m sure he and I are just platonic soulmates. Those exist.”

What an utter lie. And Sara knows it. But Felicity doesn’t give her a chance to object. Ignoring the pull of her stitches, Felicity finished changing her clothes before rambling her way out of the bathroom. She doesn’t look back, but she can feel Sara’s eyes following her out.

Digg drives her home and hands her some painkillers for when the oxycodone, which he admits he gave her, wears off soon. When he leaves, Felicity fully intends to go to bed and sleep off the stressful day,

Except she can’t. Her mind is currently running miles through her head. Felicity settles on her living room couch with a sigh. Sara finding out about her and Oliver’s shared soul mark has her reeling. Is Sara going to tell Oliver? What’s going to happen to Sara and Oliver’s relationship? Despite everything, Oliver has been smiling a lot more lately. Being with Sara has definitely made him happier, and Felicity would hate to ruin that.

Shaking her head, Felicity tries not to worry about it. She’s been through enough today. She doesn’t need to add the drama of soulmates to the pile.

Knowing she won’t be able to sleep for a while, Felicity reaches for her TV remote, hoping a few episodes of Game of Thrones  would help distract her from today’s events. She’s well into her second episode, completely oblivious to the world, when she hears a soft knock on her door.

Felicity instantly knows who it is. She really doesn’t want to answer, but his voice carries through the door. “Felicity, please open the door,” Oliver begs.

She catches the sadness in his voice, a tone Felicity really hates hearing. Wincing as her stitches pull, the painkillers definitely wearing off a bit, she walks over to the front door and opens it. Behind it, she finds Oliver, hands in his pockets and his head down, that familiar furrow in his brow in place. When he looks up, he asks, “May I come in?”

Felicity can’t exactly say no to him, especially with that crestfallen look on his face, so she lets him in without a word and walks back toward her couch and leans against it with her hands. He stays close to the door as if he’s not sure if he should step in further or not. It only vaguely registers that this is the first time he’s been inside her apartment.

The droop in his shoulders makes Felicity ask, “Are you okay?”

Despite the definite sadness surrounding him, Oliver chuckles. “You’re the one who got shot today. Shouldn’t I be asking you that?”

Felicity can’t help but smile, too. But it’s lost after a few seconds of silence. She suddenly feels very awkward. “So did you come all the way here to check up on me? Because while that’s really sweet of you, I’m totally okay. I mean as okay as I can be with a hole in my shoulder. But you didn’t have to come all the way here, anyway/ Digg only dropped me off a little more than an hour ago and I’m sure you’d rather be with Sara right–”

“Sara broke up with me.”

Felicity freezes, her ramble lost in the air. “... What?”

“She broke up with me,” he repeats with a sigh. “And when I asked her why, she said she couldn’t tell me. That it wasn’t really for her to say.”

He waits for Felicity to say something, but she remains silent, not quite meeting his eyes, so he continues. “She did tell me that I needed to talk to you, Felicity.”

She flinches at the mention of her name. Her desire to run is flaring, but she wouldn’t have anywhere to run since they are currently at her own home. Felicity feels cornered. Panicked, she tries to fib her way out of this conversation. “I have no idea why–”

Oliver interrupts her again, “We’re soulmates, aren’t we?”

This time, Felicity meets his eyes, knowing she looks like a deer caught in headlights. She can’t find any words. Her brain short circuits.

Oliver knows.

He takes her reaction as confirmation, causing a wry smile to form. He looks over her for a second before he explains, “Sara didn’t have to tell me. She didn’t realize it, but I caught her staring at my hip, where the mark is. I knew right then why she was breaking up with me.”

Felicity can’t think of anything to say. She’s been totally blindsided. She just watches as Oliver takes a step toward her.

“I wasn’t just that, though,” he continues. “My shoulder’s been hurting, ever since you took down Tockman. I’d figured it was a result of dealing with Tockman’s men, but after talking with Sara, I know it’s because of out bond.”

Again, Oliver gives Felicity the chance to say something, but she doesn’t. She just looks at her toes and clutches the back of her couch as she leans on it. She barely registers the slight twinge of pain from her wound. 

Oliver seems to accept that she won’t say anything, so he sighs. “The thing is… I think I’ve always known,” he admits.

His words has her head snap up, meeting his eyes again. “What?” she gasps quietly once more.

“When I first saw you, I thought you looked familiar,” Oliver explains with a fond smile. “I didn’t realize until now that it’s because you’re that girl. The one that made my mark burn seven years ago.”

Felicity finds herself nodding even though the voice in her head tells her to run for it.

“Plus, I’ve always felt drawn to you. It’s why I kept coming back to you for help before you found out my secret,” he says. But then he asks, in an almost heartbreaking voice, one that breaks her own heart, “Why didn’t you tell me, Felicity?”

Tears spring into her eyes once Oliver says her name again. 

“I…” she tries, but her words are caught in her throat.

“I can tell you’ve known for a while. Hell, I parade around the foundry without a shirt on almost everyday! I deserved to know,” Oliver tells her. His growing frustration sparks an anger in her. “I could’ve–”

“You could’ve what?” This time, it’s Felicity interrupting Oliver. “I recall you saying you couldn’t be with someone you could really care about. I assumed that applied to us being… being…”

She can’t bring herself to continue, but Felicity doesn’t have to. Oliver does it for her. “Soulmates?”

The word leaves her breathing heavily, unable to meet his once more.

“I still deserved to know, Felicity. Especially after that,” Oliver declares quietly. She feels his eyes observing her stiff posture for a moment before he closes the distance between them. “I know you must have your reasons for not telling me, but I wish you did.”

Oliver lays a hand on Felicity’s shoulder, encouraging her to look up. But she doesn’t. He sighs again, realizing it’s a lost cause. Oliver resigns himself to leaving as Felicity wraps her arms around her waist, curling into herself.

Before he goes, he plants a soft, lingering kiss to her forehead. The action causes their twin marks to pulse.

Felicity squeezes her eyes shut, choosing to focus on ignoring how good the sensation felt instead of the way Oliver gasps.

Oliver leaves then, muttering, “Lock the door behind me,” before closing the front door. She doesn’t hear his motorcycle turn on for awhile, so when it does, Felicity opens her eyes to watch his headlights fade away behind her blinds.

With the bond, it’s hard to tell who’s feeling more regret.

Felicity or Oliver.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Again, sorry. Both for the heartbreak and for this chapter being late. I said that it would be up after a few days of the last one, but it turns out I was a lot busier than I thought I would be. So this had to wait two weeks. But now that it's finally here, let me know what you thought about it! I live for your comments and they drive me to get these up faster (or as fast as they can be up with the end of the school year coming. Damn you quarter system).


	6. Unthinkable

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oliver and Felicity do the unthinkable in order to defeat Slade. Felicity just hopes they'll be able to pull it off.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The penultimate chapter! I'm not entirely sure yet if the last chapter will be epilogue-like or a legit chapter, but it's definitely the last part of this story. That doesn't mean it's the end of this 'verse though. ;) I didn't know how big this fic was going to be. At first, I planned for this to be little tiny fics, all part of one story, but geez, this one ended up being more than 5k words! Anyway, I'll let y'all get to reading.

Felicity clutches Oliver’s waist harder as he zooms them through the ruins of Starling City. It’s less of a “scared of flying off” grip and more of a “scared of her home getting so utterly destroyed” grip. Despite the issues she and Oliver have been having since he found out they are soulmates, the bond between them, no matter how fractured, still comforts Felicity to a certain extent.

The day after the Tockman incident and Oliver finding out, Felicity had returned to the foundry, determined not to let her wounds, both physical and emotional, get to her. It shocked her when Oliver called her phone, but she picked it up anyway. The voice on the phone was foreign and not directed toward her, so Felicity assumed Oliver butt dialed her and told Digg and Sara so in an attempt to deflect how awkward she felt about the circumstances of Sara and Oliver’s breakup. 

But Sara found the voice on the other side of the phone the exact opposite of amusing. She explained to Diggle and Felicity that the man with Oliver is Slade Wilson, a man who tried to kill both of them on the island. Ever since then, Slade Wilson actively tried to make their lives a living hell.

And thus far, he’s succeeded. 

He’d torn the Queen family apart. QC no longer belongs to the Queens, rendering all of Team Arrow jobless. He kidnapped Roy and turned him completely Mirakuru rage crazy, unable to help Team Arrow until they found a cure for the Mirakuru serum, courtesy of STAR Labs. The Queen siblings are now orphans, courtesy of a blade through Moira Queen’s chest. 

Now, with his army of Mirakuru soldiers, Slade Wilson is laying siege to Starling City, and Team Arrow is struggling hard to stop him, even with the new Mirakuru cure, the SCPD, and the freaking League of Assassins at their backs.

The latest scuffle occurred at QC, where Oliver, Sara, and the League were able to take down a few of Slade’s goons and Isabel Rochev (God bless). However, Slade got away before Oliver was able to pierce him with an injection arrow filled with the cure.

Meanwhile, Detective Lance contacted Felicity, in desperate need of help because one of Slade’s minions kidnapped Laurel. She’d taken him to QC, but that had only resulted in him basically blaming the Arrow for the whole siege because of his hesitance to kill.

Felicity, despite the whole soulmate situation, believes in her soul that Oliver can stop this man and save the city. That is why, when she’d suggested Oliver make Slade out-think him instead of the other way around, she went along with his crazy idea. 

So now, the two of them are on their way to Queen mansion, where Slade set up hidden cameras, so Felicity could be taken, Hopefully, it would give her the chance to get close to the enemy and cure him of the Mirakuru, allowing Oliver a fair fight to save the city and save the kidnapped Laurel.

It’s crazy. So incredibly crazy.

But it’s all they’ve got. 

Before she knows it, Oliver pulls up to the mansion’s long driveway. He turns off the engine and gets off first so he can help her down.

At this point, Felicity’s heart is pounding. How in the hell are they going to convince Slade that he should’ve taken her instead of Laurel Lance? She’s been the love of Oliver’s life for years!

Even though Felicity and Oliver are soulmates, he made it pretty clear that they have no chance. That they are unthinkable.

It’s why Felicity has fortified her emotional walls. To keep Oliver’s intensity from creeping its way into her heart. (It’s obvious now that she’s completely failed, despite her best efforts and all the heartbreak that seems to Oliver. And her, if she thinks about it.)

Felicity is pulled out of her thoughts when Oliver lightly grabs a hold of her elbow. “Are you ready?”

She wants to say no. But she knows no one could ever be ready for something like this. And she needs to do this. To save her city and the people she cares about.

Felicity looks up from her gaze on the front door to Oliver’s eyes.

“Break a leg, Oliver,” she says.

Even with everything going on, she still manages to get Oliver to smile. He closes his eyes and lets out a breathy laugh, shaking his head at her. “Break a leg, Felicity.”

With her name being the last word on his lips, he pushes the door open. It’s showtime. 

Hoping to every god out there that Slade is watching, she goes through the door first, asking, “Oliver, what are we doing here? The whole city’s falling apart!”

“I know,” he replies in a soft voice, just short of a whisper. Oliver takes a deep breath before exhaling and continuing. “You need to stay here.”

This is where they really need to sell it. Felicity prays that it’s believable. 

“What?! Why?” she exclaims as she whips back around to face Oliver. If this was real, Felicity knows she’d protest as much as she could. “You can’t just ask me to–”

“I’m not asking.”

Okay, Felicity knows for a fact she’d be angry if this was real. She’s glad they hadn’t rehearsed this at all or she’d have a hard time conjuring up the look of disbelief on her face,

Oliver attempts to reassure her with a nod. “I will come get you when this is all over.”

He moves to leave turning his back toward her, but she protests, hoping to cause a scene for the camera. “No!”

“Felicity…”

“No!” She steps forward and gets up in his face. “Not unless you tell me why!”

Oliver turns back to her, making sure to keep steady eye contact. “Because I need you to be safe.”

Secretly, the two of them must be really good actors. Even though Felicity is part of the ruse, she still senses a hint of real desperation from the both of them.

“Well, I don’t want to be safe. I want to be with you,” Felicity admits. Immediately, she picks up on what her words could imply, so she quickly adds, “And the others. Unsafe!”

True to the scene, Oliver insists, “I can’t let that happen.”

With a mind of its own, Felicity’s right hand grabs a hold of Oliver’s left arm. “Oliver… You’re not making any sense.”

“Slade took Laurel because he wants to kill the woman I love,” he explains without breaking eye contact.

“I know. So?”

Taking a quick breath, he blurts out, “So he took the wrong woman.”

His words have Felicity in shock. They almost feel…. Real. Like he actually means it. And that he’s insinuating that she’s… No…

No. This is a ruse. A scene acted out to fool Slade.

Despite her doubt, Felicity let’s out a small breathless, “Oh,” and she’s unable to look away from the intensity in Oliver’s eyes.

For the longest moment of Felicity’s life, they just stare at each other. And it’s so much more different from when they’d stared at each other when he’s found out about her mark, or when he’d told her he couldn’t be with some he really cared about. Those times had been filled with so much heartache.

This time, it’s softer. Gentler. And unbelievably sincere. Like his next words are ones he truly believes.

“I don’t love Laurel… or Sara,” he adds. “Not like you. They are not my soulmate… But you are.” 

Felicity doesn’t even realize how close they've gotten until she feels his breath on her face and his hand on her right hip, right over her mark. The action causes to mark to burn, just like it did all those years ago at a crazy college party.

“I love you.”

Her mark pulse and Felicity can tell Oliver feels it too, by the way he lets go of her hip and steps back in shock. But only a little bit. She can still feel how breathless Oliver is. Just like her, Because can’t believe how real this feels.

But then, Oliver gently hands the syringe filled with the Mirakuru cure into the hand that had been holding his arm. From the camera’s angle, Felicity knows that it looks like Oliver is just holding her hand.

“Do you understand?” he asks in a whisper.

The question is like a bucket of ice water. Right. This is all fake. A ruse to trick Slade. Not a real confession at all. Felicity blames her slight concussion for getting caught up in the moment.

She takes a breath before replying with a small nod. “Yes.”

It takes a long moment for him to leave. Oliver keeps staring into her eyes, like he doesn’t want to leave her for Slade to kidnap her.

Felicity is sure Oliver doesn’t actually want her to get snatched up by Slade’s goons. But she can’t help but think, by the way he just takes all of her in as if he’s trying memorize her, that Oliver desperately wishes he’s actually leaving her in a safe place. That, when this is all over, he would return to her and they would have a long talk about their relationship.

But then, he pulls away and leaves the building, another ice cold bucket splashing over Felicity.

The burn of their mark is gone, but the pulsing hasn’t stopped, even as Felicity hears Oliver’s motorcycle revv and fade away. Felicity pockets the syringe discreetly by putting both her hands in her coat pockets, hoping that it looks like she’s trying to calm herself down, and sits down on one of the steps of the mansion’s staircase.

Not that Felicity needs to truly act shaken.

With the looming fear of Slade coming to snatch her up, the continuing pulse of her mark, and Oliver’s words replaying in her head, Felicity is shaken to her core.

Oliver didn’t really mean it, did her? He couldn’t have!

Ever since he confronted her about their marks, if it wasn’t Arrow or Slade related, he’d pretty much avoided her like the plague. And she did the same. Even when Sara left after almost killing a rage induced Roy, it continued to be the three of them, Oliver, John, and Felicity.

He never once tried to make amends about blowing up at her for not telling him they are soulmates. For awhile, Felicity had been pretty peeved that Oliver insinuated that the whole situation was her fault. That he hadn’t at all played a part in her refusal to believe in soulmates. His numerous interactions with other women would beg to differ.

But Felicity couldn’t exactly blame him for seeking comfort, now when she’d been hiding the truth for so long.

Witnessing the whole fiasco with Laurel, Tommy, and Oliver, Felicity had no desire to be with a man who could play with feelings like that. She was sure their marks had to be a mistake.

Then Tommy was gone and Laurel had gone off the rails. Back form from the island, Oliver seemingly cleaned up his act.

That is, until Russia. Felicity completely blames that on Oliver’s inability to stay celibate. Laying in bed with Isabel Rochev, especially now that they know she’d been working with Slade Wilson… It gives Felicity the chills, even now that she’s dead, thanks to Sara’s assassin girlfriend,

Speaking of Sara, Felicity completely understands why Oliver pursued Sara. Especially after that conversation she had with Sara before she left Starling again. Their relationship was a means to an end. To tie up the ending they never got because Sara had been pulled under water again, like when the Queen’s Gambit went down. 

So while all these relationships with women hurt, Felicity understands. It’s not like she was set on pursuing Oliver yet anyway. Plus, with all the stress and tragedy Slade Wilson brought along, all of that had to be pushed under the carpet for another day anyway.

With everything going on, Oliver could not have possibly fallen in love with her. There’s no way his confession is real. They may be soulmates, but there’s nothing to say they should be together romantically. They are unthinkable.

The front door slams open, startling Felicity out of her thoughts. Two masked men march toward her and grab her from her seat on the stairs. Momentarily, Felicity forgets that this is all going according to plan. Even though she knows she’s physically incapable of resisting these guys, she still tries her hardest. She kicks and screams, putting up her best fight before she’s thrown in the back of a nondescript van.

Her heart is pounding and her lungs ache for air. Her arms are sore from the tight grips the men had on her arms. It takes Felicity the whole ride to wherever Slade is to calm herself down. She prays that Slade is so sure of how incapable she is that he won’t check her pockets and find the syringe ready to cure him.

The masked men pull her from the vehicle and shove her toward the building they’ve parked in front of. Felicity gets a glimpse at the surrounding area. She spots the reflection of fire on the Starling City Bay waters before she’s shoved through a door.

Slade’s goons drag her through a maze of pipes and tanks before coming to a halt. In the center stands the very terrifying Slade Wilson in full Deathstroke gear, save for that half orange, half black mask of his. He wears an unsettling grin on his face, and the eye patch he wear makes him look like a pirate, but in the least amusing, mostly frightening way.

A shuffle to the left catches Felicity’s attention. It’s Laurel, struggling in the arms of one of the goons that took Felicity from the mansion.

“How nice of you to join us, Ms. Smoak,” Slade greets her. Felicity opts not to answer, instead glaring daggers at the man plaguing her home. “I’m surprised Oliver decided to leave you alone instead of keeping you close to his side. Surely he should have thought no matter where he puts you,” the man steps close to her and grabs a hold of her chin, “I would find you. The woman that he loves.”

Laurel suddenly stops struggling at that, not going unnoticed by Slade. He turns toward her, still holding onto Felicity’s chin.

“Didn’t expect that, did you, Ms. Lance?”

Felicity appreciates that Laurel just glares at him, much like she is doing right now.

“I didn’t quite understand why our Mr. Queen has been so infatuated with you,” Slade admits. “I mean, he broke his vow to kill to save you from Count Vertigo. But then I spotted you two on the cameras I planted at the former Queen mansion. That moment you two had was illuminating.”

Felicity tries to appear shocked at the news.

“Considering how tech savvy you are, I’m surprised you hadn’t noticed them there.”

She’s vaguely annoyed that he’s right. Felicity hadn’t thought to check the mansion for any unusual transmission. Felicity decides to speak instead of dwell on that fact. “How exactly was Oliver dropping me off at the mansion ‘illumination?’”

Slade lets go of her chin and Felicity thinks he’s about to take a step back so he can start his evil villain monologue. Instead, he actually takes a step closer into Felicity’s space. Far too close for her liking. Then his left hand reaches inside her coat. A part of her jumps to the conclusion that he is about to do unspeakable things to her, but as time seemingly freezes, another part of her knows exactly what he’s doing. She sucks in a breath when Slade tightly grips her right hip.

“You share his mark,” he says. “That same arrow-shaped mark I’ve seen countless times. The one he ignored when he laid in bed with my Shado…”

Just mentioning Shado’s name ships away at Slade’s sanity. Felicity can tell. He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. It’s like he’s concentration on listening to someone, even though no one is saying a word. Roy had told them about the talking illusions that the Mirakuru creates. How extremely evil and convincing they are. 

Slade is so entranced by the illusion that he grips her hip painfully tighter. She must make a pained noise because his eyes shoot open and stare at her like he forgot she’s there. It gives her a chance to speak.

“Oliver is going to beat you,” Felicity says, mustering up all the courage she has so her voice doesn’t waver. She looks Slade dead in the eye. “He will.”

Slade smirks at that. “Oh? And how is that possible?”

It surprises Felicity how much she isn’t shaking in fear as she explains, “I can tell how much the Mirakuru affects you. Not just physically,” she adds. “Your brain’s messed up. It’s clouding your judgement. Manipulating you.”

The smirk on Slade’s face drops, his nostrils flare, and his cheek twitches. His gaze hardens into a glare. She’s struck a nerve. It gives her the boosts she needs to continue. Felicity just hopes it doesn’t get her in more trouble.

“I didn’t realize that the mighty Deathstroke could be so easily manipulated by a drug.”

Oh, Slade absolutely bristles at that. It’s enough for Felicity to pale and fear that her head will be ripped off.

Luckily, the masked man holding onto Laurel speaks up. “Sir? The men in the tunnel have been cut down.”

Felicity didn’t believe a person’s nostrils could flare any more, but she does now. Slade looks like he’s about to explode, but instead, he walks away from her and pulls out his phone, leaving Felicity in the arms of one of his last Mirakuru soldiers. She vaguely hears Oliver’s loud, “Go!”

Felicity watches as Slade taunts Oliver, practically waving her in the air like she’s some prize that he won. She doesn’t say anything, but she hopes Slade can feel her eyes stabbing him a million times, especially when he calls her weak.

It only takes Oliver a few minutes to arrive.

Slade starts babbling on into the air, talking to Oliver as he makes his way through what Felicity assumes is the Starling City water treatment plant. By the time Oliver appears with an arrow already nocked into position, Slade has already pushed his last man, excluding the one holding Laurel, to go find Oliver’s backup and pulled Felicity to his chest, resting his sword across her neck.

“Drop the bow, kid,” Slade commands next to her ear. He presses the blade into her skin a little more when Oliver doesn’t, so Felicity gasps when she feels it almost piercing her skin. “Do it.”

He does. Then, Slade’s goon comes walking in closer to them, Laurel gasping in is too-tight grip on her neck.

“Yes… Countless nights dreaming of taking from you all that you took from me.”

Felicity would be rolling her eyes if not for the fear quaking through her. She keeps her eyes on Oliver, trying to take in the instant comfort that their bond allows them when they are close.

“By killing the woman I love?” Oliver asks.

“Yes.”

“Like you love Shado?”

“That’s where you’re wrong, kid,” Slade says. “I could never love Shado like you love your women. Ms. Smoak here is your soulmate.”

Felicity notices Oliver suck in a breath, surprised that Slade had figured it out. But Slade continues.

“Yet, you go around with women, right in front of her. Laurel Lance. Sara Lance, Isabel Rochev…” he lists, his anger growing with each name. Slade moves his blade from Felicity’s neck and shoves her forward a little, keeping his left hand in a tight grip on her left shoulder. His voice raises as he continues, “How could you be with other women when your soulmate is right in front of you?! How could you trick Shado into falling for you when you knew you had a soulmate?!”

It’s then, in his rage, that Slade pushes her arm away from her side and slices through her coat, cutting the skin where her mark lays. Tears immediately spring into her eyes as she tries to suppress the pained gasp fighting to escape her lips. The pain coming from her mark is almost as bad as her bullet wound, the one that seems like an eon ago now. Felicity tries to focus on Oliver again, urging him to hurry and give her an opening so they can put an end to Slade’s nonsense. Oliver struggles not to grab his bow and fight Slade right then and there.

“You see Shado, don’t you?” Oliver takes Slade’s silence as confirmation. “Well, what does she look like in your madness, Slade?”

The words cause lade to shove Felicity to her knees. Hurry, Oliver.

“What does she say to you? I remember her being beautiful. Young. Kind.” Keep going, Oliver. He’s falling for it. She can feel Slade’s sanity slipping. “She would be horrified by what you’ve done in her name.”

That’s the exact moment when Slade loses it.

“What I have done?! What I have done is what you lack the courage to do!” Slade points a finger at Oliver. “To fight for her!”

Felicity can sense Slade’s blade almost touching the back of her neck, mimicking how easily he could slice her head off. She squeezes her eyes shut, willing Oliver to end this.

“So… when her body, your soulmate’s body, lies at your feet,” he drags the blade across her shoulder, wiping her own blood on it, “her blood wet against your skin, then you will  _ know how I feel! _ ”

His blade no longer touching her body, Felicity turns her head slightly to see his sword angled away from her. His focus is completely trained on Oliver, who replies, “I already know how you feel. I know what it’s like to hate. To want revenge.”

Oliver makes eye contact with Felicity then, the first time since he arrived at the scene. It’s only a brief moment, not even lasting a second, but she knows he’s provided an opening for her. She doesn’t even need to hear his next words before she starts to rise to her feet, reaching into her pocket for the syringe.

“And now I know how it feels to see my enemy so distracted, he doesn’t see the real danger is right in front of him.”

Despite the pain from from the open wound on her mark, as she finally straightens up, her arm reaching to inject Slade with the cure, Felicity feels her mark pulsing once more. SHe knows exactly what it means. She and Oliver are in sync once again.

Once she injects Slade with the cure, Felicity scurries away, toward Laurel, hoping they are enough to take down the soldier holding onto her. They don’t have to though, because Sara shoots him with the cure, allowing Laurel to knock him out as the cure works its magic.

They run as the two remaining men begin their final battle.

The cold breeze from the night sky does nothing to calm Felicity’s beating heart. She can hear and feel the fight between Slade and Oliver inside the plant.

“He’ll be fine, Felicity,” Sara assures her.

“How do you know?” Laurel asks from beside her, just as out of breath as Felicity.

“Because,” Sara starts as she shoots Felicity a soft smile, “he knows his soulmate has his back.”

Even with all the chaos still going on, the slow bleeding from her right hip, the drone still headinding for the still burning city, and their bond recreating every hit Slade lands on Oliver’s body onto hers, Felicity can’t help but smile.

A few minutes later, that smile grows when Oliver’s comms turn on. “It’s over.”

The three women rush to where Oliver has Slade tied to a pillar. Not caring for the soreness of both their bodies or the fact that they still have a lot of things to talk about, Felicity runs to embrace Oliver, taking in his victory. They actually stopped the bad guy. Despite all his hardships and darkness, Oliver came through as a hero tonight.

* * *

Not even a day later, Felicity and Diggle are on the shore of Lian Yu, waiting for Oliver to finish with Slade in his prison cell.

“I still can’t believe Oliver had ARGUS build a secret super max prison on Lian Yu and didn’t tell us,” Felicity admits to John.

He huffs out a laugh. “You know him. He loves his secrets.”

Normally, that quality of Oliver’s would cause a scowl, but today, it causes a light smile.

The two of them remain silent for a few seconds, taking in the surprisingly relaxing breeze on the hellish island. Then Digg asks her, “So, are you two going to do anything about that?”

Felicity looks toward DIggle, her brow furrowed in confusion. Then her eyes follow down his arm to his hand, which points to her right hip.

“Oh…” Felicity’s not entirely sure what to say. Despite Slade’s defeat, things hadn’t really calmed down just yet. After a few ARGUS agents picked Slade up, the team had only managed to tend to their wounds and clean up before Oliver, Diggle, and Felicity were on their way to Lian Yu and Laurel and Detective Lance were seeing Sara off.

Felicity had pretty much knocked out once she sat down on the plane to China and then Oliver had been too busy piloting their small, less terrifying than the one she and Digg took, plane to the island.

“Well… Oliver and I haven’t exactly had the time to talk about anything yet,” she tells John.

“But you will be talking, right?”

“Oh, definitely…”

“Good.”

Another beat of silence occurs when Diggle continues, “You know, Oliver told me how exactly you two managed to trick Slade into taking you.”

For a second time, all Felicity says is, “Oh.” She’s sure her eyebrows are high on her forehead. “Uh… when did he tell you that?”

“A couple hours into the flight to Hong Kong. You were too busy snoring to notice.”

Felicity scoffs. “I do not snore!”

Diggle chuckles. “You sure? Because I’m pretty sure–”

She jabs her elbow into his side, laughing all the while.

“Okay, okay!” he relents, raising his arms in surrender. Diggle laughs for another second before sobering up again. “You two will be talking about that though, right?”

Felicity gulps. She completely intends to talk about their conversation in the mansion, but it doesn’t mean she’s not nervous about it. She’s about to answer John, but then they spot Oliver coming out of the prison that holds Slade and heading toward them.

When he reaches them, Diggle not so subtly gives Felicity and Oliver some time to talk.

“Hey,” Felicity greets, moving from Oliver’s side to his front.

Oliver chuckles. “Hey.”

“Well, you did it.”

“I had help,” he admits almost sheepishly.

Felicity suddenly feels a little awkward, so she starts beating around the bush. “Yeah. That’s really smart. How you outfoxed Slade.”

Oliver doesn’t say anything. Is he really just going to stand there with those soft blue eyes turning her stomach into goo?

Felicity guesses she has to just get right to it, no matter how much she doesn’t really want to. “Talk about unthinkable. You and me, I mean.”

Frustratingly, Oliver doesn’t say anything. So she continues to babble, “When you told me you loved me, you had me fooled. For a second, I thought… maybe you might have meant it… what you said.”

Still nothing. Come on, Oliver.

“You really sold it.”

Finally, he answers, but it’s not really what Felicity is expecting. “We both did.”

The two of them play their usual game of staring into each other’s eyes, not actually saying a word, but their eyes speaking thousands. A wave of disappointment flows through Felicity the longer the moment lasts. Is he just going to leave it at that? He’s not going to acknowledge the fact that he’d told her he loves her in order to fool his enemy, all the while seeming like he actually meant it?

The disappointment must show on her face when she moves toward the plane because, unexpectedly, Oliver grabs her hand to prevent her from turning away.

“Felicity, wait.” Oliver waits for her to meet his eyes before he says, “I’m sorry.” 

What?

“I’m sorry,” he repeats. “I screwed up. With us.”

Oliver gives her hand a squeeze, but Felicity is positive that it’s more to reassure himself than her.

“I should have told you the exact moment when I thought we could have been soulmates,” he confesses, pleading with his eyes for her to forgive him. “If I’d said something sooner, maybe we wouldn’t be having such a hard time working through being soulmates.”

His initial apology had rendered Felicity speechless. But his words just now call her into action. “I wasn’t exactly quick to let you in on it either, Oliver. I didn’t even tell you. Sara did.”

“Well, I didn’t give you a good reason to show you I was a good soulmate. In fact, I’ve been the worst soulmate. If I had been able to–to–”

“Keep your dick in your pants?” Felicity offers, not missing a beat.

Oliver laughs, and she swears she hears him mutter “Only you…” under his breath as he shakes his head. “Maybe we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Do you mean this mess with our marks or the whole mess with Slade?”

“Both.”

Felicity sighs. “Oliver, we can’t dwell on what might have been.”

She watches as her words sink into his brain. A newfound confidence soars through him. She can feel it. Felicity’s not sure if it’s because of their bond reconnecting or just watching the man in front of her actually steel himself up.

“You’re right,” Oliver says with a nod. Wow, those are two words Felicity never thought she’d hear from Oliver Queen. “We shouldn’t dwell on the past. That’s why I’m going to prove to you that I’m worthy of being your soulmate.”

She furrows her brows. “Oliver, wha…?”

“I’m going to gain your trust.”

“I already trust you with my life,” Felicity promises. “These past few days should tell you that.”

“No, Felicity,” he says, squeezing her hand again. She didn’t realize he’s still holding it. “I’m going to prove to you that I am worthy enough for you to break down your walls. I’m going to prove to you that I’m not like your father. That I won’t leave you for other women, whether we’re romantic or not. That our bond is worth it.”

Felicity doesn’t know how long she stands there, wide-eyed and speechless. But it is enough time for her to search Oliver’s eyes for any uncertainty, any doubt, any lie he may be hiding behind his words.

She doesn’t find any.

So Felicity takes a deep breath, steeling herself up just like Oliver did moments ago. “You know, I built these walls up pretty strong over the past decade and a half.”

Oliver ducks his head in an attempt to hide his disappointment.

“But it couldn’t hurt if we tried.”

His head shoots back up to meet her eyes. “We?”

Smiling softly and nodding her head, she confirms, “We.”

Felicity doesn’t believe she’s seen Oliver smile so brightly before. His eyes light up and she can practically see all his teeth. It’s so contagious she can’t help but smile just as brightly. She squeezes his hand.

They continue to smile at each other for a few seconds before Felicity lets go of his hand so she can gesture. “I do have one condition though.”

Oliver nods eagerly. “Anything to get back into your good graces.”

God, why does he have to act like such a puppy.

Felicity takes another breath, already feeling the babble coming on. “I’d like us work on being friends for now. It’s not that I think you’d be a bad lover–creepy word by the way– it’s just that I don’t think I’ll be ready for that any time soon. I’d much rather work on the platonic aspect of being… of being…”

Geez, why can’t she ever say the word “soulmates” out loud? Felicity doesn’t think she’s ever uttered the word to Oliver ever.

Oliver rsaves her from her stuttering, sticking out his right hand as if to shake her hand. “Got it. Platonic soulmates. Deal?”

Their marks pulse when Felicity shakes his hand. “Deal.”

For now. The two of them have a lot of work to do, both with Starling City and with their relationship. But that’s okay.

They have the whole summer.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hope you guys liked the end of this chapter. I tried my hardest to right that last scene. It was actually tough because I didn't want to put you guys through a super long conversation of them working through their relationship, but I also didn't want it to feel rushed. 
> 
> Let me know what you thought about this chapter in the comments! Some of the comments from the last chapter put me off a little, but most of them were understandable. Still! Those comments fuel me, so comment all you like!
> 
> (Also I don't think I've said this, but this fic is completely unbeta'd. So I apologize for any typos)


	7. The Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's been a few months since the Seige and Oliver needs to ask Felicity and important question.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know, I know! It's been a while. I have no excuses except being a lazy ass during the summer. The productive part of me kind of just shuts off. I thought I would be working on this fic at least later in the summer, but nope. It didn't happen until school started up again.
> 
> So I had planned for the last portion of this fic to only be one more chapter. But nope! The way I wrote this part had me so I felt like I needed to split it into two. So I'll be posting this part now (obviously) and the last part will be up soon (hopefully). Soonest time it'll be up will most likely be sometime next week. 
> 
> I did a different thing this time. I'll be switching between POVs for this last part of this fic.
> 
> Alright, I won't keep you guys anymore!

Oliver

To say it’s been an eventful year would be an understatement. Then again, the same could be said for the last seven years of Oliver’s life.

In the aftermath of Slade’s siege on Starling City, things have calmed down. Well, as much as they can for Team Arrow (not that Oliver ever calls them that). Not even a month after they left Slade in his cell on Lian Yu, Felicity had been kidnapped by Sebastian Blood’s lackey Clint Hogue, who paraded around in Blood’s old skull mask claiming to be the new Brother Blood.

Oliver never thought he’d experience so much panic so soon after Slade, but once again, he was proven wrong. It’s only due to their soul bond, which grows stronger every day, that Oliver hadn’t gone off the rails and had the abilities to rescue her. The constant anxiety he felt since Hogue took Felicity disappeared the second she was safe.

Now, a little more than four months later, Oliver is another kind of anxious. Today is the day Oliver is going to ask Felicity Smoak, his soulmate, out on a date. To be honest, he’s been working up the courage to ask her for weeks now.

Despite how distant they were up until they defeated Slade, Oliver and Felicity have grown even closer than before their blowout. Between their nights in the foundry and their study sessions to make him a business mogul, they’ve had the time to talk things out.

The two of them had spent an entire night after her kidnapping going over what went wrong between the two of them. Oliver’s fear of being close to people. His blatant disregard for his soulmark in favor of his sexual desires. His reluctance to share his suspicions about their connection. Felicity’s fear of letting people, especially him, in. Her disregard for her soulmark in favor of saving herself from potential heartbreak. Her reluctance to share her knowledge of their marks to anyone, most especially Oliver. It was a few hours, a few glasses of wine, and a few (or more) tears on both their parts. Even when their words opened up a few old and more recent wounds again, it was a much-needed conversation. And after that, that familiar pulse of their marks signaled that the two of them would be back on track sometime soon.

Hopefully, that time is now.

Today, Oliver waits in front of Verdant for Felicity to arrive from her job at Tech Village, another thing Oliver feels guilty about when it comes to her. Before they’d left the foundry last night, Diggle gave Oliver the final push he needed to finally ask Felicity out. Oliver doesn’t think he’s been so nervous in his life.

As he leans against Verdant’s outer walls, Oliver folds his arms over his chest to keep himself from fidgeting too much. Felicity surely feels his anxiety seeping through their bond if the slight confusion coming from her side is evidence of anything.

Oliver feels her closeness before he spots her red Mini Cooper down the road. His heart beats quicker as she drives past him into the parking lot. When Felicity parks, Oliver takes a deep breath to calm himself before catching up to her as she heads down to the foundry.

“Hey, hey!” he greets, jogging to her side. “How was work?”

She gives him a quick once-over before she answers, displaying her concern and confusion about his nervousness. Felicity, much to his relief, chooses to ignore it and answer his question. “It is not work,” she clarifies, heat filling her eyes to show her dislike for her tech retail job. “It is a soul-crushing exercise in misery that offers health and dental. Suffice it to say, I am highly motivated to convince the board to sell you back the company.”

Oliver can tell she’s on a ramble, so he nods his head and lets her continue, her presence and tendency to babble actually calming his nerves.

“Unfortunately, you don’t have the qualifications to run Queen Consolidated. But what you do have is passion.” She lays a hand on his arm, causing their marks to pulse. It happens often now when they touch, yet it never stops Oliver from enjoying the warm feeling that spreads through his body when it happens. Felicity briefly pauses before continuing, “You care about the company and the people that work there. That’s what you have to get across to them. Speak from the heart.”

With that, Felicity pats Oliver’s chest and walks ahead toward the foundry entrance.

Oliver doesn’t follow. 

Speak from the heart, she said.

It’s now or never.

“Felicity?”

She stops and turns around to face him, her bright blue eyes blinking up at him. For a second Oliver’s anxiety returns, but he sucks it back up before he loses his resolve.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me?”

Instead of the excitement or pity Oliver expects to feel from Felicity, he feels exasperation.

What?

“I’m being serious here, Oliver,” Felicity almost sighs.

She doesn’t register he’s trying to ask her out, Oliver realizes. He is a little disappointed, but in all honesty, it makes sense. For the past couple of months, they have been spending a lot of time together, dinners included. But this dinner will be something more than those other dinners. Oliver just has to make sure Felicity knows that.

“So am I,” Oliver replies, his face sobering up to convey how serious he is.

He feels a sudden wave of hope, and Oliver knows it’s not just from him. Felicity blinks up at him again, slightly bewildered. 

“I don’t want to read too much into this,” she admits as she steps closer to him and into babble territory, “but are you asking me out on a date? Like an actual date? Like a date-date?”

For some reason, the word “date” has Oliver clamming up again. “Sure–I mean… The implication being with dinner that you–”

Is Felicity’s babbling contagious?

“Usually I’m the one that talks in sentence fragments…”

Oliver watches Felicity breathe in and hold as she waits for Oliver to clarify himself.

This is their moment. The moment Oliver tells Felicity that he’s ready for the next step in their relationship, not just as soulmates, but also as two people who care about each other very much.

Oliver doesn’t realize he’s been holding his breath too He chuckles, amused at his own anxiety. It’s a simple question. One he knows Felicity’s answer to now. Because sometimes their bond won’t let them hide anything.

“Would you like to go to dinner with me?”

Felicity’s eyes light up.

“Yes.”

* * *

 

Felicity

She’s going on a date with Oliver Queen.

She, Felicity Megan Smoak, is going on a date with Oliver fracking Queen.

Felicity is nervous. So incredibly nervous. Oliver really isn’t helping at all. She can feel that he’s just as nervous as she is.

They’d both been so excited in the hours leading up to Felicity getting off work and Oliver headed to finish off the rest of his Arrow business so he could end it early for their dinner. But once Felicity began getting ready, it just sparked an onslaught of nervous energy, nearly ruining her makeup. She’d resorted to taking a couple benzos to calm her (and indirectly Oliver’s) anxiety.

It’s not that she’s nervous about the actual date. No. They’ve been through too much and have spent too many dinners together to be worried about the date itself.

No. She worries for that the date means. What the date will mean for their future.

Sure. The two of them have worked hard to regain and strengthen their friendship through long overdue talks, movie nights, and kicking bad guy ass. But that’s all they’ve established so far as soulmates. Friendship. Besides Diggle and Roy, working his way up there, Oliver is the closest friend she has. 

She doesn’t doubt that their marks connect them to each other forever. What she doubts is just how much they are connected. Could they really be more than friends? It could all be chalked up to Felicity’s insecurities when it comes to Oliver Queen and romantic relationships. She’d rather not think about the whole mess between the Lance sisters and the Tommy-Laurel-Oliver love triangle from Oliver’s first year back, but those are two instances from Oliver’s past that fuels Felicity’s doubt over their soul bond.

Felicity is just not completely sure she can trust their bond. Don’t get her wrong. She trusts Oliver with her life. She’s just not entirely sure she can trust him with her heart. Not until she knows that he’s all in.

Felicity knows she plays a part in the schism that struck their bond a few months back. But she’d been burned by Oliver too many times now to forget about all the hurt he’s caused. To let of it all.

Still, Oliver– the both of them, really–have come a long way. Once they reestablished their friendship that one night after her kidnapping earlier that summer, they ended the night with a new hope and the promise of Big Belly Burger the next day. Now they’re the closest they’ve ever been. Daresay, the two of them may have gotten a little flirty, if the snide comments from John and Roy are anything to go by.

When Oliver asked her out, her heart fluttered in a way it hasn’t in a long time. Right then, she knew that it’s time for them to move past all the pain. It’s time for them to move on and start something new. 

However, that little voice of doubt in the back of Felicity’s head keeps whispering in her ear. Will Oliver truly be her soulmate? Can they really move past the lies and secrets? Who’s to say something similar won’t happen again and her heart gets more broken than the first time?

All these thoughts have Felicity so incredibly anxious, especially after she finishes getting ready. She really hopes Oliver isn’t receiving too much of that on his end of their bond.

Fortunately, Felicity had the hindsight to call a cab to take her to the restaurant, fully knowing her nerves would get the best of her. The fact that, as she leaves her townhouse, Oliver’s nerves seem to pick up as well proves to Felicity that she isn’t the only worried one.

What a pair they make.

* * *

 

Oliver

When Oliver arrives at the restaurant, he takes a moment to look at his date. Oliver has seen Felicity dressed up before, given all the QC events they’ve had to attend during his time as CEO, but he’s never seen her dressed up for him. Not until now.

God, she’s beautiful.

Rarely does Felicity wear her hair down. The one time he asked about it, she told him that she hates constantly moving her hair out of her face when she works. However, tonight is not about business. Her long blonde hair cascades over her shoulders in gentle waves.

Over her body is a flattering red dress. The skirt is longer than usual (not that Oliver spends a lot of time thinking about Felicity’s skirts), but because the red number fits tightly to accentuate her curves, Oliver doesn’t mind at all.

Felicity doesn’t notice Oliver, or maybe she chooses not to, for a few seconds. But when she looks up, it’s like the world stops. For a moment, it’s just the two of them, their marks pulsing in sync.

Looking at her now, Oliver can feel that only good things can come out of this night.

Felicity stands as he approaches their table and they greet each other with a hug.

“Hi,” he greets slightly shyly.

“Hi,” she replies in a similar meek manner.

It’s only slightly awkward.

The two of them have been projecting each other’s anxiety over this date for the past couple hours. It’s painfully obvious when he struggles to talk about his past and when she babbles on about how often he has his shirt off. 

Oliver didn’t mind that one so much.

Not quite ready to go into his return to Lian Yu and Russia, Oliver stops his story at Hong Kong. Oliver clams up at the thought of his last couple years away, when he had turned into one of the darkest versions of himself. 

He fidgets, not able to continue. “I’m sorry… I’m just a little out of my element.

In order to focus, he stares intently at the empty table space in front of him, empty because they’ve been talking too much to even glance at their menus. Felicity must sense his hesitation, whether by the look on his face or through their bond, because she reaches for his hand resting on the table. Oliver lifts his head and finds her comforting smile, immediately calming him.

Oliver nods at her in thanks and continues, “The entire time I was gone I could never… completely trust someone.” 

He keeps eye contact with her, watching the concern grow in her eyes and a frown appear on her face.

Still, Oliver continues. “And when that goes on for so long, you stop seeing people for people. You see threats… or targets.”

At the last word, Felicity’s hand tightens around his own. Because of what he’s about to say next, Oliver couldn’t appreciate how much she cares for him more.

“And when I decided to come home,” Felicity’s eyes widen, but thankfully, she seems to store that information for later, “I just didn’t know how to turn that part of me off.”

For a second, Oliver feels ashamed. Since he was stranded on Lian Yu and up until now, Oliver has done unspeakable things. He’s killed and he’s tortured. He’s lied and he’s conned. But when that second is over, Oliver looks straight into Felicity’s eyes and remembers both of the first times he met Felicity. First, the dark-haired goth girl who wouldn’t take any of his bullshit. Then, and this he dubs the most important one, the calculating blonde who still wouldn’t take any of his bullshit.

Before he knows it, the corners of his lips lift up into a reminiscent smile. “And then I walked into your office…”

Felicity’s smile grows once again, matching his own nostalgic one. That one little smile encourages him to keep going.

“You were the first person I could see as a person,” he explains as he squeezes Felicity’s fingers. Oliver remembers the bright lights of her old IT office, her light pink blouse, the low ponytail she used to sport, the glasses she still wears, though they are forgone for tonight… Oliver shakes his head so he doesn’t get too lost in his memories. “There was just something about you.”

Oliver isn’t the only one walking down memory lane. Somewhat frustrated with her past self, Felicity shakes her head and scratches the side of her face in embarrassment. “Yeah, I was chewing on a pen.”

“It was red.”

Those three little words cause her face to light up. Felicity’s smile widens and she seems almost speechless. Hopefully, what Oliver says next won’t ruin the moment.

“Do you remember when I told you that because of what we do, I didn’t think that I could be with someone that I…” Oliver stutters, because now the thought of being without Felicity terrifies him, “... that I could really care about?”

Oliver feels the flash of hurt and disappointment Felicity feels when she remembers his words. Her smile disappears, but Oliver is quick to bring it back.

“So maybe I was wrong.”

At those words, Felicity’s smile comes back. Their marks pulse again.

Staring into each other’s eyes now, with matching smiles and pulsing soul marks, Oliver knows that things between them will be just fine.

Until they aren’t.

Oliver hears the RPG as soon as it launches. He doesn’t even think as he knocks the table away and throws himself at Felicity, gathering her into his arms and covering as much of her body as possible.

The rocket grenade blasts through the restaurant. He and Felicity are on the ground before he knows what’s happening. The explosion knocks everyone and everything in the restaurant. The blast rings through Oliver’s ears before his vision blacks out.

“Felicity…”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I mean, I know we all know what happens, but it's such a cliffhanger that I had to stop it there. But no worries, we'll get back to it and *hint hint* we'll be stepping away from canon here.


	8. Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it! The final chapter of Things Left Unsaid. This thing became a monster. I thought I would be doing 1-2k parts to this, but the story kinda just... grew. And the same with this chapter. I thought it would be about 4k words but this monster decided to double itself. And I don't have a beta so I didn't have anyone to help me cut stuff (this may or may not be me asking someone to step in lol).
> 
> But anyway, this is the last chapter and I hope you guys enjoy it! Y'all have been waiting for so long, so I won't keep you any longer.

Oliver 

Oliver doesn’t come to right away. His eyes are still closed and his brain doesn’t register the scent of smoke and burning debris or the heat of the flames caused by the explosion. When it all clicks, Oliver wakes up with a start. He shoots up from his position on the floor of what used to be a restaurant with an intimate, romantic atmosphere. Now, the place is decimated. Flames burning through walls and furniture. Smoke filling all available space. People, with or without their dates, searching for a way to escape the burning building.

Their dates…

“Felicity!” Oliver raps, his lungs filled with smoke. He can’t believe she wasn’t his first thought the moment he woke up. Desperately, Oliver searches for his blonde companion. Despite the light from the fires, smoke hinders Oliver’s eyesight. His eyes water as he whips he head side to side in search of Felicity.

He finds he unconscious, just a couple feet away from him. The blast must have separated them, as Oliver recalls quickly gathering Felicity in his arms before the explosion happened.

Oliver reaches for her, intending to carry her prone body out to safety, even though his own body aches all over. Before he lifts her up, he quickly checks for a pulse, despite already knowing it’s still there because of their soulbond. The action is mainly for his peace of mind.

Once Felicity is safely in his arms, Oliver surveys the ruins of the restaurant as quickly as possible. It seems only the front of the restaurant took the brunt of the explosion and the fire department and authorities have yet to arrive and help the survivors. But he knows they’ll be here soon. Oliver opts to head towards the back, both to avoid being seen and to retrieve the bag with his Arrow gear.

Because it can’t be a coincidence that the restaurant he was dining in was targeted, right? Crime in Starling City has dropped significantly over the past summer due to the team’s nightly activities, the remaining criminal activity still mainly residing in the Glades. What reason would some criminal have for blowing up a high-end restaurant?

Oliver suspects that they somehow tracked him to the restaurant. He did stow away his suit inside. However, Oliver is much too preoccupied with getting Felicity to safety to check for a tracer.

With an unconscious Felicity in his arms, Oliver can’t very well be jumping across rooftops like how he arrived at the building. He’s forced to sneak out the back entrance, sticking to the shadows and avoiding the authorities as they arrive at the scene.

It would be a very bad situation if they found a blood and soot-covered Oliver Queen carrying his equally as blood and soot-covered date and a duffle bag full of green leather and arrows.

Oliver calls Diggle once he’s far enough from the scene of the crime to fill him in on what happened. Thankfully, the restaurant isn’t too far from the Glades, so within an hour, Oliver manages to escape to Verdant and head down to the foundry undetected by the authorities. With his precious cargo, Oliver carefully descends the metal staircase into their base of operations.

Diggle is already waiting for them, the med table ready to lay Felicity on and check her for injuries. At this point, Oliver cares for very little except for Felicity. He wordless drops the duffle bag on the floor, where Roy picks it up, and gently places Felicity on the cold metal table.

“Is she okay?” Roy asks, his brows furrowed in concern.

“Yeah,” Oliver tiredly replies. “She;s just knocked out.”

Oliver anxiously paces to the other side of the table. Felicity’s prone figure is not helping Oliver keep a clear head. He leans over her, examining all the cuts, the bruises, and burns that cover her body. Who knows what else may have happened to her? What may be hiding underneath the fabric of her once beautiful dress? Even though Oliver knows these are all minor wounds, wounds Felicity will complain about for all of one minute before life goes on, he still can’t shake the feeling that this is all his fault.

He really can’t focus all his attention on Felicity and how likely it is that the restaurant blew up because of him. He can’t afford that right now. The city can’t afford it.

“It’s all over the news,” Diggle informs him. “Police and fire are at the scene.”

“Yeah, I didn’t think it was the best idea to stick around and answer questions.” No, not when getting out of there as soon as possible would mean sole medical attention for Felicity and a quick change from his suit and tie to another kind of suit.

“So we don’t think you and an explosion at the same place is a coincidence?”

Good. Oliver isn’t being paranoid if Diggle, their voice of reason, is voicing Oliver’s exact thoughts.

Instead of answering Diggle, Oliver merely sends him a long, suffering look. One that tells the other man that, for one, it can’t be a coincidence and two, how the hell is he supposed to handle this? How is he supposed to balance the obligation he has to the city and his relationship with Felicity? Diggle has to know. He and Lyla were, and sometimes still are, two soldiers brought together during war. How do they deal with being in love while also being in constant danger?

“Hey, check this out.” Roy interrupts his thoughts, holding a tiny device between his fingers and Oliver’s duffle bag in his other hand. “It’s a GPS tag. I found it in your jacket. It’s wasted now.”

Damn it. He definitely isn’t being paranoid.

“You took out one of Steelgrave’s crew earlier tonight,” Diggle reminds him, stepping closer.

“It was a setup,” Oliver almost growls. Whether it’s out of frustration for Steelgrave or himself, he’s not so sure. “So they could plant that thing on me.”

He looks down at Felicity again before stepping away, too ashamed. If Felicity were awake, she’d pick up on instantly and scold him for blaming himself. Oliver would laugh at the thought if his mood hadn’t fallen significantly.

“Oliver, I know what you’re thinking,” Diggle steps in trying to pull Oliver out of his dark hole.

But Oliver is not having it, even when he knows Diggle probably knows exactly what he’s thinking.

“Listen,” Diggle almost commands him. “I’m not other people. I know exactly what’s going on in your head and you are wrong.

“Diggle, someone planted a tracer on me and I don’t notice? The only explanation…” he gestures toward Felicity. “I lost focus.”

That’s it. He’s been too caught up with Felicity. Too wrapped up in the concept of soulmates. He can’t possibly put on the suit every night with love clouding his senses. Innocent people got hurt tonight. All because he hadn’t been paying enough attention.

It’s time he gets his head back in the game.

Diggle stares him down, probably hoping Oliver would stop blaming himself and listen to him. But John is no Felicity, who still lays unconscious on the med table. Instead of relenting, Oliver stubbornly stares straight back at Diggle, unwilling to accept that this is anyone else’s fault but his own. He rings up Lance to let him in on the situation, intent on finding whoever did this and beat the hell out of him.

Once Lance decides to help the Arrow search for the perpetrator of the restaurant attack, Oliver feels confusion seeping through his bond with Felicity, signifying that she is waking up.

Though the rational part of his brain knows Felicity won’t blame him for their ruined date, that she’ll probably want him by her side, there’s still that part of him that fear Felicity will run away from him. So instead of rushing to her side like he wants to, he cautiously approaches the med table. 

Oliver knows the exact moment Felicity comes to her senses because a flash of fear scorches through him. His arms are out to catch her before she even shoots up.

“Oliver!” Felicity shouts, eyes wide in fear. Latching onto his arms to keep him close, she examines him, searching for any injuries.

“Hey, hey, hey…” he says, trying to comfort her. “You’re safe. You’re safe. I’m here.”

“Are you okay?” she rasps. “Are you hurt?”

Leave it to Felicity to worry about someone instead of herself after an explosion.

Oliver shrugs. “I’m fine. Just a little roughed up.”

One look from her tells him she doubts how “fine” he is. Physically, he’s alright, just a little sore. But because of their bond, as well as the fact that she knows him better than anyone, Felicity can immediately tell he is not actually fine. Still, Oliver avoids any further questioning. “You, on the other hand, may have a concussion.”

He smooths down her hair as he gently lays her back down on the table. The expression on her face tells him Felicity doesn’t appreciate him hiding from her, but surprisingly, she lets it go. Oliver can feel and see her concern for him, but for right now, she can’t be his focus right now. 

“I’ll suit up to see if there’s any trail left behind at the restaurant until Lance calls with the information. Roy, make sure Felicity is okay,” he orders. The young man nods, heading toward the medical supplies. Then Oliver looks toward Diggle. “Man the comms until Felicity is able.”

Once the other man nods, Oliver goes to the duffle still holding his leather suit. He feels Felicity’s eyes following him, even as Roy helps her sit up and Oliver disappears into the bathroom to change, but Oliver refuses to look back.

Sadness emanates from their bond.

It’s hard to tell if Oliver is feeling his own or Felicity’s.

* * *

 

Felicity 

He’s at it again and Felicity knows it. She doesn’t need a soul bond to know exactly what is going through Oliver’s thick head. One look at him and Felicity instantly knew Oliver has been blaming himself for this whole situation since the explosion.

Felicity watched Oliver fuss over her for the briefest of moments before shutting her out. She watched him completely avoid her as he headed out in search of Steelgrave’s remaining crew.

God, why does this man insist on being the most thickheaded man who is allergic to talking things out? Felicity thought he’d outgrown it once they’d had their long overdue, incredibly difficult talk a few months ago, but obviously, it’s easy to fall back into habit.

Felicity sighs as Roy finishes patching up the small wound on her forehead. A relapse was bound to happen, right?

“Blondie…” Roy says, offering a sympathetic smile. “He’s just being an idiot. We’ll knock some sense into him.”

“Oh, I said that out loud, didn’t I?”

“Yep,” he confirms, patting her shoulder. “It’s a common occurrence, don’t worry. Go get cleaned up. You probably don’t want to be sitting at your desk looking like your last attempt at cooking for us.”

Felicity smacks his upper arm after he helps her off the med table. “Hey!”

Roy grins. “I’m not too far off, am I?”

She looks down at her charred red dress, which, damn it, is so completely ruined. It actually does take her back to the time she tried to make spaghetti for the boys. Roy is definitely not far off at all.

Although slightly offended, Felicity laughs. “Fine, fine. I’ll give it to you.”

The younger man gives a little fist pump before ushering her towards the foundry bathroom to clean up. Leave it to Roy to cheer her up a little, especially after Oliver basically high tailed it out of the foundry to escape his–and her– feelings. Though Felicity is sure Oliver can’t escape that as much as he wants to.

After grabbing a duffel bag of her extra clothes from a shelf and steps into the bathroom, Felicity takes a shower, mindful of her very minor injuries. As the water runs down her body, Felicity’s mind wanders.

Through their soul bond, Felicity can feel the turmoil going through Oliver’s head. She can feel how misguidedly guilty Oliver feels for not noticing the tracer that Steelgrave’s lackey had placed on his jacket. God, sometimes that man just has some twisted aversion to listening to people and learning his lessons.

Sometimes, Oliver forgets that he’s only human. He’s allowed to take a break from the life of a vigilante.

He also forgets that he didn’t force her to be at that restaurant. Felicity wanted to be there! She still wants to be there. What she would give for that attack to never happen, so they could continue their dinner and finally come to terms with the feelings they have for each other. Because Felicity feels it. And she knows Oliver feels it.

But now the only thing Oliver feels is guilt. Felicity thought he learned from dealing with Malcolm Merlyn, the Count, with Slade, for God’s sake! Everything that happened with them was because of their own actions. Their decisions. 

That was all them. None of that was Oliver’s fault. And damn it, none of what’s happening now is his fault!

Whoever orchestrated the attack on the restaurant, even if they had followed Oliver’s location, is completely at fault. Felicity just hopes she can get that through Oliver’s stubborn head.

But will he be willing to even listen to her? What if she can’t get through to him? What if his demons are too strong for her to fight?

Once she’s judged that she has rid herself of the smoky smell was previously sporting, Felicity turns the water off. She changed into a pair of leggings and a T-shirt when she dries off and then hangs a business appropriate dress for the morning because she is sure that it’s going to an incredibly long night. Thank God it’s normal for them to carry out extra long nights, or else Felicity would have to go home to change and be tempted by her comfy bed.

Mmm… a bed. Her tired, aching body would really appreciate a bed right now.

Sadly, she’s got a bad guy to catch, a board meeting in the morning, and an Oliver to knock some sense into. Taking a deep breath, Felicity walks out of the bathroom toward her workstation, making sure to dump her ruined dress in the trash on the way. Roy is nowhere to be found, but his red Arsenal is missing from its glass case, so Felicity assumes he’s gone out on the field to expand the search. John is at her desk, probably monitoring the boys and keeping an eye out on trouble. He turns when he hears her walking toward him.

“Hey. You feeling alright?”

“I’ve been better,” she shrugs. “Roy went out to help Oliver?”

“Yeah. He’s checking if anyone in the Glades knows anything about Steelgrave’s hangout.”

“Good.”

There’s an awkward silence as John gets up from her chair and allows her to sit. He eyes her for a moment, causing Felicity to shrink into herself.

“What?” she questions, looking up at him. 

John bends down on one knee in front of her, making it easier to make eye contact. “How are you really doing?”

Felicity purses her lips, not really knowing how or where to start and not wanting to load things onto John. “Honestly?”

He levels her with a look that can only be described as one from a concerned older brother. “Out with it.”

“Okay, okay…” Felicity relents, her hands slightly raised in surrender. “I’m just… worried.”

She stopped there, still reluctant to share what’s going on inside her head. But John urges her to continue. “About…?”

“Oliver…”

“And?”

Felicity both appreciates and hates his tendency to act like her older brother.

“... And us, I guess,” Felicity sighs. “I’m just… I know what Oliver is feeling right now, but I don’t know how to get him to talk about it. To open up to me. We’ve been so close lately, and now he’s suddenly trying to shut me out. It’s making me doubt us… what we have or had… I don’t know. It’s stupid.”

Turning toward her computers, Felicity shakes her head, trying to rid herself of her doubts, which she didn’t notice creeping up on her until now, but it doesn’t really work. From their bond, she can feel Oliver trying slip away from her, succumbing to his doubts and that part of him that thinks so little of himself. 

“Hey, hey, hey…” John tries to grab her attention, stopping her chair from turning. “It’s not stupid. If anything, if anyone is stupid right now, it’s your boy.”

Felicity huffs a small laugh, but it goes as quickly as it comes. “He’s not my boy.”

“He is and you know it.”

“But he isn’t, John!” She shakes her head at him, a sudden flash of anger engulfing her. “As long as he keeps blaming himself for things that are completely out of his control and shutting me out, he will not be mine. Not if he keeps sabotaging himself from living his life, and apparently my life!”

Hot tears form spring into her eyes, and Felicity has the hardest time keeping them at bay. But she still has more to say. Suddenly, all the feelings that have been bubbling since she noticed Oliver pulling away start to surface.

“We were doing so well, John! We’ve been opening up more and more to each other since Slade. We were both so excited for our date. To finally move forward and become something more. He was ready! I was ready! We both were ready to be together!” Felicity is on a full on rant now and she can’t stop herself anymore. John, bless him, is attentive, taking it all in. “But the minute things got tough, before we even really started, he’s already shutting me out!”

Felicity points a shaking finger to her right hip, where that Arrow shaped mark binds her to Oliver. She’s practically yelling now. “I can feel him slipping away, John. His thoughts, his insecurities are pulling him away from me. What am I supposed to do?”

The tears are streaming down her face and they’re not stopping. Her voice quiets and she looks at John, suddenly feeling as helpless as her six-year-old self, wondering where her dad went. “What am I supposed to do?” she whispers.

John immediately gathers her in his giant but welcoming arms. Felicity sobs into his shoulder. In the back of her mind, she vaguely worries for John’s knees, because holding her up while his knees support them from the cold hard floor cannot be comfortable. But Felicity’s emotions–and Oliver’s–are overwhelming her.

Part of her doesn’t mind that Oliver probably feels her raw emotions. He deserves to feel guilty for making her feel like this. But another part of her doesn’t want to add to his guilt. He has enough to guilt over, even when a lot of it is undeserved.

Felicity spends a few minutes calming herself. All the while, John strokes her hair, shushing softly to help stop her sobbing. Once her sobs become small hiccups, she backs out of his arms and wipes her eyes with the palms of her hands. John reaches out for a nearby chair and brings it closer, now able to sit in front of her instead of further hurting his knees on the floor.

He leans his elbows on his knees and sends her a comforting smile. “Better?”

Felicity sighs, still hiccupping slightly. “A little.”

John reaches out a hand and lays it on her shoulder, squeezing lightly. “Don’t give up on him yet, Felicity.”

“Who says I was giving up?”

He shoots her a pointed look.

Felicity looks away and sighs again. “Well… You know what he is, John. Once Oliver feels guilty about something, he stays guilty. It basically consumes his entire being.”

“Until you knocked some sense into him.”

She scoffs. “ No, I–”

“You did. You do. And you will continue you to.”

Felicity tilts her head in doubt, completely skeptic about her abilities to make Oliver see sense now that he’s shutting her out. “How?”

“You saw how close to the edge he was with Slade.”

“Yeah…” Felicity says, not really sure where John is going with this.

“We all saw how messed up Oliver was,” John reminds her. “You know more than anymore how much of his past got to him, and still gets to him. You know more about him than anyone, period.”

Felicity can’t argue with that. She’s sure that despite Oliver not telling her much of his five years away, she knows more (save for Sara, maybe) about what he’s gone through than anyone else. She definitely knows more about what goes through his head, what he feels, on a day to day basis. Over the summer, that’s been more of a blessing than a curse. But right now, it’s feeding Felicity’s insecurities over their relationship. Ones she thought she’d already dealt with before.

“So what if I know him the most, John?” Felicity asks. “What good is that going to do?”

“You were the one that knew he could deal with Slade without killing. You were the one that knew in your soul,” John points to her heart, “that Oliver had what it takes to overcome that darkness that lives in him. And you told him so. You showed him there was another way.

“So now you show him that it’s not all about being a vigilante. That there’s balance to be found. Help him find that.”

Damn. How is he so good with love advice.

“Hey, I wasn’t always good at it,” John admits, telling Felicity she’d said that out loud. “I’m currently at a second go with my pregnant ex-wife. I had to learn the hard way that relationships aren’t always just about loving each other. It’s also about fighting for each other, no matter how hard it seems.”

Fighting for each other, huh? Well, if there’s something that Felicity has gotten good over the past couple years, it’s fighting. Fight both the bad guys with her genius IQ and fighting Oliver’s stubborn headedness. She just needed a reminder of that.

Reaching over, Felicity pulls John into a hug, this time in thanks instead of in grief. “Thank you, John.”

He presses a gentle kiss to the top of her head. “You know I’m always here for you. For both of you. Especially when the two of you get stuck in your own heads.”

Felicity abruptly pulls away. “Hey! I take offense to that.”

She doesn’t really though.

* * *

 

Oliver 

Oliver knows that Felicity and Digg are trying to get him to see reason. But from his perspective, he does see reason. By pushing John away toward his family, John will have more time to spend with Lyla and their soon-to-be-born child, and he’ll be less likely to come home injured. Or worse.

By pushing Felicity away, while it hurts, he’d be able to focus on protecting her and protecting the city. The explosion at the restaurant and the dose of Werner Zytle’s new form of Vertigo from the night before have reaffirmed something Oliver learned during his time away.

A man cannot live by two names.

If Oliver wants to protect his city and his loved ones, he’ll have to choose one. And former multibillionaire Oliver Queen is not the one who can provide protection.

After Diggle angrily stalks out of the foundry, Oliver focuses on a spot on the wall, trying to center himself before putting his leather suit back on to take down Zytle. It’s difficult though. Because at her desk, he can see Felicity’s anger silently boiling.

Oliver has been trying to block out their bond since he decided Felicity and Starling City are better off with his focus on protecting them. He knows she’s been trying to get through to him, given their conversation before and after that disastrous QC board meeting, where he lost his family company to Ray Palmer. 

Hell, Oliver’s own family company, his family legacy, is better off without him.

Oliver’s pity party is cut short when Felicity stands from her chair and practically stomps toward him, her heels angrily clicking on the floor. Not afraid to step into his space, she pokes him in the chest. 

“You know John can make his own decisions, right?”

Oliver stands speechless at her rage, which is only amplified by their bond.

She doesn’t wait for his answer. “And that I make my own decisions?”

He’s completely stunned by her anger. Her eyes are filled with a fire he’s only seen when Slade had taken her. Her voice is slowly climbing its way toward what she called her Loud Voice.

Again, she doesn’t wait for Oliver to answer. “So when we come down here to the foundry, and that includes Roy, it’s not for you. It’s for the city.”

Oliver finally finds his voice. “I know that!”

She raises an eyebrow and gestures toward the side door John had just exited through. “Do you really?” she asks incredulously.

Oliver tries to confirm, but the words are caught in his throat. Despite how sure he felt for himself just minutes ago, Oliver suddenly feels resolve start to slip away.

Taking notice of his silence, Felicity continues. “You don’t know. Despite these past few months, despite these past few  _ years _ , you still don’t get that for John, for Roy, for  _ me _ … this life… this life filled with criminals and risks and danger…”

She takes a deep breath and exhales, calming her own anger. She looks up at him, her eyes softening from fiery gaze. “We chose this life. Despite knowing the risks, we still come down here.”

Olive can’t quite meet her eyes. He’s suddenly feeling guilty. Not about the attack on the restaurant. Not about losing his company. Not about his failure to catch Zytle at the first try.

No… This time, he feels guilty for pushing his friends, his family, away.

“She’s right, you know,” Roy says from behind, having just come out of the bathroom after changing into his Arsenal suit. “Putting on this getup and going out there is my choice. It’s not for you. It’s to help out my home so that other people, and I, can live our lives in it peacefully.”

Oliver watches Roy and Felicity send each other reassuring smiles. The two of them have also become good friends over the summer, sharing their own inside jokes and pulling fun at him with Diggle whenever they can.

… It really isn’t just about him and his mission anymore, is it?

Roy starts backing away, gesturing towards the exit. “I’ll wait for you outside, boss.”

He leaves, giving Oliver and Felicity a moment before their night job begins.

Suddenly embarrassed at his recent behavior, Oliver retreats for now. “I’ll just get changed.”

Felicity only nods before heading back to her station.

Oliver grabs his suit and heads to the foundry bathroom. He stares at his reflection in the mirror, observing the bags that have formed under his eyes from his lack of sleep and his inner turmoil.

He really is an idiot. The team is right. They all chose this life. He may have brought them into the life of a vigilante, but it’s never been up to him if they stay or not.

If Felicity decides she wants to be with him despite the danger, and despite his idiot choices, then he won’t stop her. Because Oliver wants to be with her, too. She is his soulmate. But he is hers, too. And that means that he isn’t the only one that has a say in what goes on between them. He doesn’t have to find that balance between his different personas, the Arrow and Oliver Queen, alone because the team, but mainly Felicity, each have their own personas to balance. And they can all figure that out together.

Oliver shakes his head at himself in the mirror. If anything good has come out of the past two days, it’s that some senses have finally been knocked into Oliver’s thick head. (Not that he’ll ever admit that he has a thick head.)

Living a double life is hard. It’s complex. But, hopefully with Felicity, that’s something they can work on together.

When Oliver walks out of the bathroom in his Arrow gear, Felicity is just hanging up her phone, sitting in her chair with wide eyes. She looks to be in a daze. He doesn’t sense anything negative like panic from their bond, but Oliver still rushes to her side.

“What’s wrong?” he asks worriedly.

Felicity shakes her head, coming back into her senses. “Nothing, actually. Well, hopefully nothing.”

Oliver furrows his brow. “What do you mean?”

A small smile forms on her lips. “Lyla went into labor.”

This time, it’s Oliver’s eyes that widen. He’s quicker to recover, however. He lets out a small, disbelieving laugh. Oliver knows he’ll have to make it up to Digg for forcing him out of the foundry, but he can’t say he’s sorry for doing so now. In fact, he’s happy for his brother-in-arms.

“Well… despite the circumstance, I guess it’s kind of a good thing I sent John away…” Oliver awkwardly jokes.

Felicity laughs, but then double takes, more shocked by his unexpected joke than the incoming baby Diggle. She goes to say something, but for a few seconds, she looks like she’s imitating a fish, her mouth opening and closing again. “Wha…” she tries. Her eyebrows are scrunched up in that adorable way of hers. “What?”

Knowing that Roy is outside waiting for him and that they are on a time crunch with Zytle at large, Oliver decides they’ll have to leave this for later. He lays a hand on her shoulder reassuringly. “Let’s get Zytle and we’ll meet the new Diggle once we’re finished, yeah?’

Her mouth slightly ajar, Felicity just nods.

He, Oliver Queen, has just rendered Felicity Smoak speechless. Oliver wishes he could have this moment recorded. He smiles at her affectionately.

“You got the comms?”

“Uh…” Felicity shakes herself out of it. “Yeah.”

With that, she whirls herself around, back to her computers and Oliver grabs his bow and quiver. Just as he reaches the side door, Felicity calls out for him.

“Oliver?”

He turns his head toward Felicity, who has only just turned her head back so she can see him.

“You better make it back safely,” she all but commands. Her chin quivers slightly, but she turns herself more toward him, allowing him to see the steely determination in her eyes. “We have a lot to talk about later.”

Oliver opts not to say anything. Instead, he offers a soft, sincere smile and nods.

As he heads out the door, Oliver silently makes a promise to both Felicity and himself.

It’s time he learn that he’s not alone anymore. That he has people to help him out with his troubles, whether they be physical or internal. He’s got Roy, who is starting to become somewhat of a little brother to him.

He has Diggle, his brother-in-arms, whom Oliver owes an apology.

And he has Felicity. His best friend. His light. His soulmate.

* * *

 

Zytle put up a good fight. The mad man managed to stick another Vertigo dart in Oliver, but with Felicity’s words still fresh in his mind, Oliver was able to overcome his fear of himself.

Still, Vertigo is not something to mess with.

Oliver is exhausted. He’s beat up and he’s ready to get some sleep.

Despite his fatigue, Oliver is also happy. Happy for his brother and the new life he and Lyla have brought into the world.

Once Zytle had been tied up for the cops and he caught up with Sara for a few minutes, Oliver immediately headed straight to the foundry, quickly showering and changing into his civvies before heading to Starling General.

Felicity had already gone by the time he arrived at the foundry, claiming over the comms that she couldn’t wait any longer to see the new baby Diggle now that the threat to the city had been neutralized. Now, Oliver watches her stand next to Lyla’s hospital bed, cooing over the older woman’s shoulder to the baby girl.

Oliver was never one to imagine having kids. Even with that pregnancy scare with Samantha Clayton during his college days, Oliver had never imagined himself as a father.

But now, staring at the scene in front of him, he can see it all. Instead of Lyla in that bed, it’s Felicity, holding their newborn child in her arms. It would be Thea cooing over her Felicity’s shoulder. And much like now, Oliver would be standing, watching over his family.

It’s a scene Oliver never knew he wanted to be real until now.

Olive assumes he isn’t being very subtle with his train of thought when he feels Digg nudge him with his elbow, a knowing smirk on his face. Oliver just rolls his eyes and swears to himself he’ll never admit to flushing with embarrassment. The definitely nonexistent blush has his best friend laughing. 

“What’s so funny over there?” Lyla asks from her bed.

Oliver has too much pride–and doesn’t want to scare Felicity off– to admit to imagining his own, hopefully future, family. He doesn’t know what to say. Thankfully, Diggle does.

“Oh, Mr. Arrow here is too scared to hold the baby.”

“I am not!: Oliver objects, crossing his arms. “I’ll have you know I was never afraid to hold Thea when she was born. And I was ten at the time.”

They all laugh at his defensiveness. Oliver looks away and huffs, though he’ll never admit to feeling embarrassed. He feels Felicity watching him, the feeling making Oliver glance back up. Instead of the teasing smile he expects, Felicity wears an affectionate smile, like she knows exactly what he was thinking. Without realizing it, Oliver meets her eyes and his own smile grows. The little moment makes their marks pulse.

“Ahem.”

Felicity jerks, and Oliver tries to hide his own flinch, when Diggle clears his throat, an obvious and successful attempt to snap them out of it.

“Well…” Felicity starts before blowing a breath, now embarrassed. “How about we let you Diggles have some family time?”

Oliver watches her take a step, but she stops, turning back towards Lyla. “Well, technically you’re not a Diggle because you two are being ridiculous.”

Oliver watches Lyla and Diggle share an amused look, but they don’t say anything.

Felicity rambles on. “I don’t see why you two don’t just get hitched again. You love each other. You’re already living with each other. Hell–Sorry, heck, you two just had a child together! I mean, why not?”

This time, John chooses to speak up. “I’m working on it,” he says with a soft smile, looking directly at Lyla.

Those are apparently the right words because Felicity pulls her bottom lip between her teeth, an obvious attempt to hide her giddiness and contain her grin over the fact the John basically admitted his plans to propose to Lyla.

Oliver has to admit he’s probably just as happy for Lyla and Digg, which is why he decides to start pulling Felicity away from them, so they can have their moment. He gently takes hold of her elbow and guides her out of the room. “We’ll let you two have some time with your daughter,” he says. Oliver nods at Lyla, whose arms are too filled with a baby for a hug, and shakes John’s hand on the way out. “Congratulations again, you two.”

He practically drags Felicity out, forcing her to call out her own “Congratulations!” before Oliver shuts the door behind them. Letting go of her elbow, Oliver starts walking down the hallway with Felicity to his left. 

“They look really happy,” Felicity comments, a huge smile on her face. “She’s beautiful.”

“She is,” Oliver agrees. Now that they’re alone– somewhat since the hospital night staff are roaming around– he finally has a chance to set things right with Felicity. 

He only gets slightly nervous. “We need to talk.”

Inwardly, Oliver cringes at his word choice and stops in his tracks, causing Felicity to do so as well. “Not like that!” he corrects. “Not the, uh… I didn’t mean it like the usual… way.”

Okay, Oliver is realizing he’s more nervous than he thought.

But Felicity places a comforting hand on his arm and turns so she’s facing him. “Again,” she starts with an amused smile, “usually I’m the one who talks in sentence fragments.”

Oliver looks toward the ceiling quickly and laughs before looking back down at her. He’s suddenly aware of how close they are, their chests nearly touching. If they both leaned in...

A buzzing from his pocket startles the two of them. They jerk back, having realized they’d actually started leaning in.

Oliver is stunned for a second before Felicity advises, pointing to his pocket, “You should probably get that. It might be important.”

He can hear the slight disappointment in her voice, which only fuels his frustration for whoever is calling him right now, ruining the moment. Practically yanking his phone out of his pocket, Oliver accepts the call and places his phone on his ear, not even bothering with the caller ID.

“Hello?” he growls, causing Felicity to poke him and mouth, “Be polite.”

The voice on the other line doesn’t seem to care though. “It’s Barry. Barry Allen.”

The annoyance drains out from Oliver. “Barry?”

Felicity’s eyes widen. She steps closer to him, obviously wanting to hear from their previously comatose friend. Oliver places the call on speaker, the volume slightly low so only the two of them can hear.

“I woke up,” Barry says. “I could use some advice.”

Oliver looks down at Felicity at the same time she looks up at him. She nods, but he doesn’t need words or signals to know that the both of them want to help Barry out.

“I’ll be right there.”

Wordlessly, Felicity and Oliver head to the hospital parking garage.

So much for their talk.

* * *

 

Felicity 

On their way to the parking garage, Oliver tells her she probably didn’t need to head down to the foundry to man the comms. Given that she has her own system at home, mostly used in cases of emergency when she’s not in the foundry, and that she’s completely exhausted, Felicity doesn’t object. Barry didn’t sound to be in any danger anyway, just in need of advice. So she watches Oliver zoom out on his motorcycle before she starts the drive home.

Luckily, her townhouse isn’t too far from the hospital. Once she parks her car in the driveway, she goes inside, toes out of her heels, and heads straight to her home office, dropping her coat and purse on the couch on the way. Oliver texts her that he’s leaving the foundry just as she has her computer on, so she immediately turns on the comm system and attaches a headset to her ear.

“Do you copy, Arrow?”

“I’m here, Felicity,” Oliver replies.

“You know, I think it would be a good idea for some codenames for John and me,” Felicity ponders out loud. “I mean, you and Roy have your own.”

She hears Oliver chuckle as he dashes from rooftop to rooftop. Barry told him he was on a rooftop near Verdant, so Oliver wouldn’t have to take his motorcycle. “We’ll think of something.”

They continue in silence after that, Oliver doing his parkour and Felicity tracking his movements. Though, Felicity does have to admit that the past couple of days are catching up to her and her eyes are starting to droop.

But then, Oliver  finally reaches the meeting place.

What she listens to is shocking. Upon waking up, Barry has apparently gained to ability to move at superspeed.

… What the frack?

Her mind immediately moves into science mode. How did this happen? How did the explosion of particle accelerator do this? How do his cells work? How has this changed his genetic makeup? How fast can he run?

Felicity wants Oliver to ask Barry her millions of questions, but then Barry begins to explain his struggle to come to terms with his new powers and what he should do with them. She can hear Barry’s doubt in himself, a doubt that is certainly familiar to both her and Oliver.

“I was chasing the bad guy,” Barry explains, “and someone died.”

Felicity hangs her head in empathy. SHe knows exactly what Barry is feeling. It’s the exact same doubt and guilt Felicity felt when she couldn’t track down Joseph Falk, otherwise known as the Savior, during her first few months as part of Oliver’s mission and someone died.

Felicity also knows that Oliver knows exactly what Barry is going through. She has faith that Oliver will know how to talk to Barry. How to inspire him to be the hero they both know Barry can be.

“If you’re really gonna do this, you’re going to make mistakes.” It’s a definitive statement. In this life that they lead, there will always be mistakes. In her time working with Oliver and John, she’s seen plenty and made many.

“I’ve made mistakes,” Oliver admits. Because Oliver knows she’s listening in on the comms, Felicity know he isn’t just talking about the mistakes he’s made as the Hood or as the Arrow. He’s admitting to the mistakes he’s made as Oliver Queen as well. “But the good you do will far outweigh the bad.”

A year ago, Oliver would have hung up the hood forever because he didn’t think that he was doing real good for Starling. But now he, and the rest of the team, can see that they really have done some good, despite all the hardships they seem to face. They really have made a difference.

Felicity zones out for a moment, reflecting on all the work Team Arrow has done for Starling. She almost misses when Barry asks, “What if I’m just some guy that was struck by lightning?”

She wishes she could be there on that rooftop. She wants to hit Barry over the head and tell him that he’s more than that. From their first meeting, she knew Barry is different from most guys. He’s a nerdy goofball, sure. But he’s got a heart of gold. He’s a special kind. Maybe that’s why whatever unearthly power decided to hit him with that bolt of lightning.

Almost as if he reads her mind, and it really should stop surprising her, Oliver says, “I don’t think that bolt of lightning struck you, Barry. I think it chose you.”

“I’m just not sure I’m like you, Oliver,” she hears Barry say.

“Oh, please. God, no, don’t be like Oliver,” Felicity can’t help but say. She clamps her mouth shut when she hears Oliver quietly sigh. “Sorry.”

“I don’t know if I can be some vigilante.”

In some turn of events, Oliver suddenly sounds like the most hopeful person she knows. “You can be better,” Oliver tells Barry, “because you can inspire people in a way I never could. Watching over your city like a guardian angel… Making a difference… Saving people in a flash.”

Tears can’t help but form in her eyes. For as long as she’s known Oliver, she’s never heard him sound so optimistic about a life under a mask. It brings her a new hope, not just for their night job, but for whatever their relationship becomes.

She listens to Oliver and Barry part and makes a mental note to visit Central City sometime soon to check out Barry’s new powers for herself. There’s silence on the comms until Oliver reaches the foundry. 

“Hey,” he says to catch her attention.

“Yeah?”

“I’m going to get changed and I’ll head to your place…?” he trails off into a question like he’s unsure if she wants to continue their talk tonight. What a lovable idiot.

Not wanting Oliver to keep walking on eggshells around her, Felicity replies,” Yep! Get some pizza from King’s on the way? It’s the only place that’s open at this time.”

There’s no hesitation now. “You know, one of these days we’re going to get you on a healthier diet.”

Felicity smiles and spins in her desk chair. “That will only happen if I could cook. And you know how that’s going.”

He chuckles. “I’m sure I could teach you a few things.”

So… he’s back to their teasing, undeniably flirty banter, is her?”

“You’ve spent a fair amount of time trying to save my kitchen to know that’s impossible.”

“I’m a stubborn man.”

Felicity can just imagine him smiling, standing in the middle of the foundry like an idiot, similar to her own stupidly big grin.

“See you in a bit?” she asks, hope filling her voice.

“See you in a bit.”

Knowing she’ll see him at her doorstep soon, Felicity shuts down the comms system and her computer.

Forty minutes later, while she’s mindlessly watching TV in her living room, she hears a car park in her driveway, undoubtedly the car John had lent Oliver for times when a motorcycle isn’t an ideal mode of transportation. Felicity swings her front door open before he even makes it to her front steps.

“Hey.”

Oliver smiles. “Hey.”

“That was a pretty inspiring speech you gave Barry…” she comments. 

He shrugs. “I learned from the best.”

The statement has her smiling once again. ”So… what’s in the box?” Felicity asks, leaning forward as if to try to sneak a peek inside the pizza box Oliver’s holding in front of him.

“Pepperoni and mushroom, as always,” Oliver answers while opening the box so she can see.

“Ooh, gimme!” Like a child, she makes grabby hands. She hears Oliver laugh softly at her as he hands her the box and steps inside.

“Couch or dining table?”

“Definitely couch.”

She wants to be comfortable when they get to their talk. They eat their first slices in relative silence, both wanting to has everything out as soon as possible, yet not knowing where to start. Felicity tries to pay attention to the old rerun of F.R.I.E.N.D.S. playing on her TV, just to see if focusing on something else will help her out, but Oliver keeps glancing at her from his position next to her on the couch. This makes Felicity glance back at him, which makes him glance back at her, and the cycle continues. So they both only finish that one slice before Felicity has had it.

“Okay!” she says a little loudly. “I can’t take it anymore!”

She can tell she’s startled Oliver a little, as he jumps only slightly and turns wide eyes toward her. This time, Felicity is not hesitating. Boldly, she scoots closer to him and takes each of his hands in her own. Staring him square in the eyes, Felicity bluntly states, “I want to be with you.”

It’s a simple sentence, but it causes their marks to pulse and Oliver stays silent, looking almost shocked at her words.

“I don’t care that you seem to think every bad thing that happens in our lives is your fault. I don’t care about the dangers that come with the life that  _ we _ lead,” she says, emphasizing “we” because it’s not just him putting on the hood every night that makes up who Starling City their hero.

Oliver makes a sound of protest, but Felicity lets go of one of his hands and holds up her own to stop him. “Let me finish.”

He takes a deep breath and nods.

“Saving the city? I know that sometimes it’s easier to just forget about the crime and live a normal life. I know that it’s dangerous to face all these criminals. I know that sometimes things won’t go out way. That any one of us could get hurt or worse.” She sees Oliver gulp at the thought. “But the good that we do? That’s what makes it worth it. Just like what you told Barry.”

Oliver simply nods again. She can tell he doesn’t really know what to say. So she’ll say it for him.

“And you know what else?”

“Hmm?”

“Whatever hard times come our way… I know we’ll get through them,” Felicity says confidently. “You know why I know?”

“Why?”

She lays her right hand on his left cheek and brings her left hand to touch his right hip, where his mark is. “I’m your soulmate.”

Tears form in Oliver’s eyes and he makes a choking sound, unable to speak. So she continues.

“And you are mine.”

At that, Oliver takes the chance to hold her cheeks in his large hands and brings her in for a life changing, passionate kiss. They’re not exactly making out like teenagers. Felicity is sure they’ll get to that later. But the moment their lips meet, she feels her mark, their mark, pulse in a way it hasn’t before. The pulse fills her with the most loving feeling she’s ever felt, and she knows Oliver feels the same thing. It has the both of them smiling into each other’s lips, making it impossible to deepen their kiss.

“I love you,” Oliver whispers on her lips.

Felicity didn’t think her smile could grow any bigger, but it does. “I love you, too.”

A couple hours later, when they are laid out on her bed after the best sex she’s ever had, their pizza forgotten in the living room, Felicity sighs happily as she lays her head on Oliver’s naked chest. She tilts her head to look up at him. “So… that happened.”

Oliver chuckles under his breath. “I’m glad it did.”

The statement has her lips curving upward. Felicity is generally a very smiley person, but even so, she doesn’t think she’s smiled as much as tonight.

She watches Oliver grow silent, staring at the ceiling as he contemplates for a moment. By his still relaxed expression, Felicity knows it’s nothing too serious. “What is it?”

Oliver looks back down to her, his own lips curve up. “Still think we’re unthinkable?”

Suddenly, Felicity is taken back five months, to the shores of Lian Yu just after one of the hardest battles they’ve ever fought. Hell, it takes her back to before then when she still thought their marks had to be a mistake. But now, Felicity knows they aren’t a mistake. In fact, their marks are the best things that ever happened to her. To both of them.

Felicity leans up on her elbows, dragging her body up his body and bringing her lips to hover over his. “We are very thinkable.”

Their marks pulse and they kiss once more.

Oh, yeah. Totally thinkable.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Phew. That was a lot. I took like five hours trying to finish this yesterday and typing it up. I hope you guys liked it! I found myself being disgusted by how fluffy things got at the end, but I wanna say it's along the lines of what I've been reading for the past few years of fics anyway lol. Thank you guys for sticking with me these past few months, especially those who are still reading after the past summer of silence. I really appreciated all the comments and kudos! 
> 
> I may or may not be adding some little fics to this 'verse. It all depends on what inspiration strikes me. But rest assured, this will not be my last fic! There will be more to come! I'll probably be updating that on my [Tumblr](http://www.nerdyandturdy.tumblr.com) so go ahead and follow me there if you'd like. Maybe you could even send me some prompts to help inspire me.

**Author's Note:**

> What do you think? I feel really good about this fic and I'm working on the third installment right now. I don't think I can write a huge series like my AC AU, but I think I could stick with little series like this one and some one shots. By how quickly I'm writing the chapters for this story, I'd say updates will be fairly often because I can't wait to share this with everyone Be sure to check me out on [my tumblr](http://www.nerdyandturdy.tumblr.com)!


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